If Mobile Sites Are So Hot, Why Is It That Nobody Wants One?

After spending the better part of one month calling on restaurants
and pizza shops, and any eatery that isn't a hole-in-the-wall, I've come
to the conclusion that Mobile sites w/QR codes just doesn't cut it.

Damn, one pizza order of 2 pizzas w/toppings is OVER $30.
Not including delivery fee and tip.

So no, my pricing is not out of line.

Thanks for asking and trying to figure out the 'why'.

I guess it's like the old saying: 'you just can't fix stupid'.

Mike

PS - Forgot to mention that it includes custom QR Code,
mobile web app with custom splash screen and custom hompage
icon for iphone, android, blackberry. I like to think I'm offering a lot
for the money.

Damn, one pizza order of 2 pizzas w/toppings is OVER $30.
Not including delivery fee and tip.

So no, my pricing is not out of line.

Thanks for asking and trying to figure out the 'why'.

I guess it's like the old saying: 'you just can't fix stupid'.

Mike

PS - Forgot to mention that it includes custom QR Code,
mobile web app with custom splash screen and custom hompage
icon for iphone, android, blackberry. I like to think I'm offering a lot
for the money.

You are offering a lot, true, and could even charge more if you work
with the right businesses. I've charged twice as much per month
with business locations near major highways that involve food,
lodging, recreation, and even gas. Much easier to sell when they
understand the value of drivers and tourists, and how it applies
to their bottom line

Damn, one pizza order of 2 pizzas w/toppings is OVER $30.
Not including delivery fee and tip.

So no, my pricing is not out of line.

Thanks for asking and trying to figure out the 'why'.

I guess it's like the old saying: 'you just can't fix stupid'.

Mike

PS - Forgot to mention that it includes custom QR Code,
mobile web app with custom splash screen and custom hompage
icon for iphone, android, blackberry. I like to think I'm offering a lot
for the money.

=====================

Interesting....

I have been in the Mobile Marketing for almost 5 years,,,,and so far am doing great.

Ya, I agree with the last post by Mary, mobile is hot and only getting hotter. I work for an SEO firm and 80% of our clients and leads ask for mobile sites.

Especially with smart phones being able to just touch to call they are getting more and more powerful. Add some call tracking to the number that shows up on a mobile site and you got a good pitch to a client.

So everyone that thinks nobody wants one you're either asking the wrong people or you're asking the wrong questions lol

I'm going on 60 years old. I've been in sales my whole adult life, and that's
the BEST you have to offer?

Or is your mundane, rather worthless reply just an attempt to build your post count?

What is the point of having a mobile site if it doesn't bring in customers? I think his point makes more than enough sense and is good advice. My "web guy" doesn't have a problem finding clients because because he doesn't sell the websites he sells the benefits of the website. In this case more traffic is the benefit and what business doesn't want more traffic?

wow, in sales your whole life... or whatever time frame you said. maybe you treat your prospects like you treat these people who are offering suggestions. all i see is you are outstanding at insults. what a sad way to live...

Holy Camoly....Just "Think" for a minute. Imagine you have just sat down at a restaurant table....you get handed a menu....you look at it....decide what you want to order...you give your order to your waitperson and then....WHAT?

You sit there, waiting for your food to come and....your eyes are looking around....looking at your dinner partner....looking around the restaurant.... looking at what's on your table....THEN....you see a 6 by 4 Card stuck in the slot of a small card holder, next to the salt, pepper etc.

On the Card is the following; "Scan Here for a Discount on your meal!"

So....you whip out your little Mobile Device and SCAN the Code and WHALA!....up comes a Discount you can show when you pay your bill. Now, this Discount could be 10% off....a Free piece of Pie....a Free Drink or Free French Fries...etc.

Now....why would a Restaurant pay to have YOU set this up for them?

(Let's say the restaurant you're at is a Mexican Rest.) Because you have put together a "Diners Club" where there are only ONE of each type of Cuisine. One BBQ...One Chinese....One Greek....One Mexican restaurant...etc.

And....each restaurant participating in your "Diners Club" can SEE the Discount Offers at all the other participating restaurants....so....each participating restaurant in your "Diners Club" is SENDING BUSINESS TO THE OTHER RESTAURANTS IN THE CLUB!!!"

Now....in my calculations....there are at least 15 different types of Cuisine in most towns. Offering an EXCLUSIVE to each of these 15 for $150 a Month can bring in $2,250 a Month....just for providing a Mobile Site and some Cards and Holders on the tables.

Then...go to the next town OR....Another Group of 15 Different Restaurants!...for another $2,250!

Again...you are offering each restaurant an EXCLUSIVE for their Cuisine Category AND....each participating (NON-Competing) restaurant can be sending each other....Diners from the other participants.

A WIN-WIN and a BIG Win for you because once set up (the restaurants pay for the Cards & Holders)....the only "Maintenance" is when a restaurant want to change their Discount.

Note: The $150/mo is just a guestimate. I think a "Diner's Club" like this should be worth at least $250/mo!

Mak, I live in a msall community of 75,000 in a rather isolated area of Norhterm Canada. I've been in sales and business since I was 15 and I'm now 62. I've sold everything from lawn mowers to mansions...and everything in between. One thing I now, is no one is a nit wit...they are all good at what they are doing or they wouldn't be in business. It's not an easy close...not like whoever these guys are who say they are closing $15,000 deals in a walking. That's pure BS I've seen their sales training material and it's nothing to write home about. I have my own sales approach...I never sell anyone anything they don't need, and THEY are the ones telling me what they need...not me tellilng them. Cold call sales and one pop sales don't work in B2B offline. Never did, never will. Last month I closed 3 plus a responsive site rebuild. I had to find out what these clients goals where, where do they need help, what would they like to improve, then structure my sales strategy to answer their needs. With their permission, I tell them I'll come back in a couple days with something that might help them, I make the appointment then and there...then go back with the demo site. Making sure I've addressed what THEY wanted with the site. You can't do that if you don't know the buseinss or the owners needs first. It's not a one call slam dunk, but I charge $497, with a discount if I need to...and $49 a month maintenance, if they want it. No pressure, no hard sell...Try to remember that businesses are hit many time a day with telmarketers promising them the moon and walk in sales people selling them the latest and greates technology that's going to boom their sales. They have a budget, they have to stick to it. They are in business to make money, not to make sure you or I make money, and their main priority that day when they got up wasn't "god I hope some guy comes in to sell me mobile site today!!" They have a zillion things to tend to in a day....I got a call back last week from a Limo company I spoke to at great lenth a year ago! but hey, it's still $$ in the bank and he'll be a good referal.

Correction that should read $997 and discount to as low as $497 if I have to (but I take stuff off the build as well) If they can't afford that, then I offer them a $197 landing page with click to call, tap to tex, or qr code. They'll generally go for that and later, we get to the full site. Just to clarify all that.

Hey Mike....when I first started seeing all the "Stats" on "Mobile" and bought some of the WSOs on "Making Money with Moble"....my first thought was;
"Hey! If I'm the owner of a restaurant, I could give a rip about how many Mobile Phones were sold or how many people are using them or....whatever! My ONLY thought is, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!"

"HOW can "Mobile" help ME...as a restaurant Owner (or a Dentist, or Chiropractor or whatever)

So....since I've been selling Ad Programs to Restaurant Owners for years (Menu Books in Hotel Lobbies, Info Boards on Hotel/Motel Lobby Walls and "TV Channel Guides" in Hotel/Motel Rooms.....my first thought was to INCLUDE a way for "Travelers/Tourists" to FIND my "Mobile Sites" on their Mobile Phones.

AND....instead of offering my new "Mobile" program to everyone and their brother....make it EXCLUSIVE!

So....I put together a "Mobile Directory" of Mobile Sites that Tourists/Travelers who check into Hotels/Motel WILL be interested in (Travlers/Tourists do NOT carry food with them so....they're interested in "Places To Eat or Have Food Delivered to Them!)

And....I provided a way for these "Tourists/Travelers" to FIND "Access" to my Mobile Directories!

Then....when "LITTLE OL' ME" goes in and tells a Restaurant Owner that "Little Ol' ME" can give him an EXCLUSIVE for his "Mexican" (Chinese, Italian, Greek etc) Restaurant....with my "Mobile Directory" that can EASILY be FOUND by Travelers/Tourists checking into local ... Hotels/Motels....and HOW...ONLY HIS.....restaurant can appear on their Mobile Phones!.....the question they ask is NOT, "How Much?'.....the question they ask is...."WHO DO I MAKE THE CHECK TO?"

Also....Mike....what if you were to Show a (Dentist, Medical Clinic, Chiro, House Painter, Pest Control, Plumber, Roofer...etc) how THEY could be the ONLY biz in THEIR CATEGORY.....in a "Mobile Directory" that was "Put In Front of "Home Buyers"? (Yeah, homes are STILL being sold! 83 last mo in my town...down from 123 a year ago BUT....83 is 83 families NOT zero families!)

Again....because you are offering an "exclusive" to their PRIME PROSPECTS....the question also is NOT, "How Much?" but...."To Whom Do I make My Check!"

Ever since the "Mobile" thing appeared on the scene....my thought has been, "HOW" are prospects going to FIND these Mobile Sites?"

When you show them HOW and they can be the ONLY ONE IN THEIR CATEGORY....makes ALL the difference in the world!

So....put on yer "Thinking Cap" and put together a program that will;
1) Show how prospects can FIND their Mobile Site
2) How they can "beat their competition"

I think you have just found the bulls**t threshold that many of us discover after all the rhetoric that is spun on both this forum and anyone promoting their latest wizz bang pop idea. The mere notion that ' Create or make it and they shall come' is complete boloney.

The sad fact is we are all living in pretty hard times and business owners much like many of us REALLY HAVE TO GET IT before even considering putting their hand in their pockets and handing you the cash. They know if it is any good for them and to be honest they really are not that bothered by mobile sites at the moment.

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

Now I am sure someone can come on here and sing loud about all the mobile sites they are selling and how easy it is. They will need to go some way to convince me otherwise BUT I love to be proved wrong.

The world out there is a damned tough cookie and people are only buying what they need and what they really really want, not a lot in between.

By the way Mike I really like the mobile sites you are doing (from your example) Is it your own setup or a third party script?

Some have said to show how this will bring in more customers. I ask, how does one do that?

A mobile site is not necessarily going to bring them in more customers since that customer was likely going to search for their site regardless of whether or not they had a mobile site. But the point of difference comes when that potential customer lands on their website.

Studies in human psychology have actually shown that 'fear of loss' is a stronger emotion than our 'desire to gain'. We, as human beings, care more about losing things we already have than gaining things we don't have... and it makes sense. If you don't have something then it's hard to imagine what life would be like with it. But if you have something then it's very easy to imagine how bad life would be without it.

Use this to your advantage. Losing customers is just as bad, if not worse, than not gaining new customers. If a customer comes to your website, it takes forever to load, they can't find what they are looking for quickly and easily, they are just as likely to hit the back button and go in search of a different restaurant... ie: their competitor.

In essence, by ignoring the need for a mobile optimized website, based on recent Google figures that say 1 in 5 local searches are now done on a smartphone, a business is potentially throwing away 20% or 1 in 5 of their customers. To me that is a BIG deal. Worse than just throwing away customers is the fact you are likely throwing them away to your competition. If someone is looking for a pizza restaurant and your website is hard to use, they are NOT just going to give up on getting pizza - they will just find a different restaurant and go there instead.

Originally Posted by mak25

Some have said, show how many searches are done looking for their type of business. I ask, how does one do that?

You can go to the Google keyword tool and show them rough numbers but the point here is that it is pretty irrelevant. If they are only relying on Google to bring people to their website then they have a serious problem. They should be using other forms of promotion to drive people to their website - letter box drops, print ads, etc. It's very likely that someone who is reading the paper or looking at your menu and wants to visit your website will be on a mobile device. Once again if your website is not mobile optimized then it's only going to deter those people from using your service.

Originally Posted by mak25

Some have said, show them how this is a good ROI for them.I ask, How can I prove that?

I can start doing some figures for them and show them how NOT having a mobile optimized website is a bad ROI however I don't think it's needed.

Anything that serves to improve the customers experience is always going to be a good ROI. They can't argue with the figures. Roughly 1 in 5 people are on mobile devices these days, there are now 4 times as many mobile devices as PC's, by 2014 it is expected there will be more people visiting websites from mobile devices than from PC's, and roughly 25% of mobile web users are mobile only - meaning they only ever surf the Internet using their mobile device. All of these figures are only going to increase over the next few years. It's no longer a choice. Businesses need to go mobile or they will quickly get left behind.

Remember, when all is said and done don't be too afraid to politely move on. It's often the case that these who ask a ton of questions turn out to be the most difficult customers. If it takes forever to pursued someone to use your services then I generally don't want them as a client anyway. Move on and find those who already understand the importance of online marketing.

I would like to chip in my two cents worth here if I may. I am not a salesperson nor an experienced marketing person, but like many others on this forum I believe there are decent rewards to be reaped from mobile website marketing. Not only for those of us who will be in a position to meet the demand but also for those forward-thinking people who will utilize the technology.

I recently purchased a smartphone and was showing it to a co-worker at my day job. I pulled up a couple of websites so he could see the quality of the phone's screen. Just by coincidence, of course, the sites were not mobile-ready.

I know he's in a rock band and after a little conversation I mentioned that I was learning to build mobile ready websites and that I could put together a mobile site for his band. Their fans could find them when they're out and about. They could stay in touch with their fans by getting their fan's phone numbers (give them an offer in exchange for their #'s) and sending updates about their appearances, cd sales, tshirts, etc...( SMS text marketing?)

Perhaps some of the fans are business owners themselves and will visit the band's site and/or receive the text updates and in the process grasp the marketing aspect and perhaps want something similar for themselves.

It could be that some of the reluctant business owners, and other possible mobile website clients will need to see other businesses utilizing the technology in real world situations in order to grasp the potiental of what is available to them.

And, although the aforementioned deal hasn't been closed yet, I'm still confident this is a niche that will work well with mobile marketing.

My point here is not about marketing methods. Not at all. As I stated before I'm not a marketing person. I just wanted to point out that there are many different types of businesses that will be able to integrate mobile websites into their marketing strategies. Entertainers, performing artists, other mobile type businesses. Might take a little creative thinking or brainstorming with others, but, isn't that one of the reasons why we're here .

Judging from my limited experience, that seems to be true. But on the other hand, this is something that would benefit restaurants a great deal.

Some have said to show how this will bring in more customers.
I ask, how does one do that?

Some have said, show how many searches are done looking for their type of business.
I ask, how does one do that?

If I use Google search results, it would show 'no results given'.

Some have said, show them how this is a good ROI for them.
I ask, How can I prove that?

All nice suggestions, but nothing given to back them up.

Thanks Grahame, they are built by me from scratch.

You are doing a good job. It's good you are finding out exactly the opposition they have in mind. Most people don't even take the initial steps to set things up. You're a persistent kind of guy and that's why you're on this forum asking questions. Soon you will figure out what to do next, and you'll be reeling in big money.

When customers are asking questions, of course you may not know the answer, but at the very least you gotta try to come up with an answer that will satisfy them and have them move onto the next step

When they ask "How will it bring in more customers?"

At the very least you need to re-iterate everything you've mentioned.
"With a mobile app, you can use push notification and instantly reach customers. You can't do this by email, it'll straight to the spam box"

You tell them that with a mobile app, each customer that enters their store, will become a repeat customer if they download the app.

To be a good ROI. you should give it to them free for 2-3 months, and they can measure for themselves if it's worth it or not. They can continue to pay you if they like it. The store can offer deals from time to time and if customer comes in showing their mobile phone, then you know the mobile platform is effective for them.

As almost always, I get some of the best ideas not just from posts, but from the comments to them - like this one:

"...One of my favorite sites to read on break at work is Smart Planet. The issue I have with them is that they do not pick up that I am on my phone and instead deliver a horrible mobile experience by forcing me to view an otherwise 'just fine' desktop page. A large advertisement loads and on PC, I just close it out. The issue being that on mobile you have to wait for the video to load, (there goes a decent amount of data), then zoom in several times in order to confidently hit the close button instead of accidentally opening another browser window. Luckily the advert doesn't load every time.

I understand that it would not be so painful if the webdev made the site with both platforms in mind, but both platforms have different needs. I rarely, if ever, surf the web for the sake of surfing on my phone like I do on my pc. On my phone, I have a specific destination in mind and usually only care about one facet of the page. An article or some piece of information only. Everything else on the page is irrelevant to me on that platform. Having two separate platforms with an ability to switch between them at will would provide the best user experience in my opinion."

However, none of that really gets to the OP question of why nobody is buying mobile sites (from him). To that and to many of the commenters here - with many great suggestions - I'd say stop talking. Shut up. Sales is about listening FIRST. Stop pitching and demo'ing...at first. ASK QUESTIONS.

Now, if you're 60 and have been in sales for eons than you know SPIN Selling. If you're younger you might not have heard of it. SPIN is an acronym for Situation / Problem / Implications / Need. You uncover the prospect's Situation by...wait for it...asking questions. Then you learn what the prospects's Problem is by...you guessed it. Etc.

Old school consultative sales methods like SPIN and others (NOT "let me show you my set of ginzu knives! Would you like delivery on Tuesday or Thursday?") COMBINED with new-tech prospecting (PURLs, video, social media, etc.) plus many of the other sales strategies and tactics mentioned (persistency, Know-Like-Trust, presenting to groups like Chambers of Commerce, not viewing your prospects as buffoons but as businesspeople who need help, etc.) can be a winning combination.

It all starts with a desire to have a conversation - where you come to the conversation as an expert and from a position of wanting to learn and help, not a desire to pitch and close.

I think you have just found the bulls**t threshold that many of us discover after all the rhetoric that is spun on both this forum and anyone promoting their latest wizz bang pop idea. The mere notion that ' Create or make it and they shall come' is complete boloney.

The sad fact is we are all living in pretty hard times and business owners much like many of us REALLY HAVE TO GET IT before even considering putting their hand in their pockets and handing you the cash. They know if it is any good for them and to be honest they really are not that bothered by mobile sites at the moment.

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

Now I am sure someone can come on here and sing loud about all the mobile sites they are selling and how easy it is. They will need to go some way to convince me otherwise BUT I love to be proved wrong.

The world out there is a damned tough cookie and people are only buying what they need and what they really really want, not a lot in between.

By the way Mike I really like the mobile sites you are doing (from your example) Is it your own setup or a third party script?

Grahame

I agree, that the ease of which to wrap up local clients in WSO after WSO is mostly hype. What I really think is funny is the WF member who puts out WSO after WSO touting their successes. If they were making so much money from offline, why would they spend time putting together a 7 dollar WSO.

From my experience, getting through to offline biz owners is not a walk in the park at all. One would think that business owners would be the open minded ones and constantly looking for new ways to increase business, but many are just so stuck in their ways that its impossible to get through to them at all. Sometimes I wonder how most of them stay in business in the first place.

What kills me is the same business owner that spends hundreds (or thousands) per month in Yellow Pages ads, will say NO to a free mobile site and a small hosting fee. I think if you concentrate on what you can do to help increase their business, without any initial "selling" or pitches, it will pay off in the long run. And if they don't want any help increasing sales, then just say "next". They will be out of business before too long anyway.

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

Could it be that we're that far out in front of the mobile curve that what appears to be a complete no-brainier to us just doesn't make sense to restaurateurs and others?

I think you have just found the bulls**t threshold that many of us discover after all the rhetoric that is spun on both this forum and anyone promoting their latest wizz bang pop idea. The mere notion that ' Create or make it and they shall come' is complete boloney.

The sad fact is we are all living in pretty hard times and business owners much like many of us REALLY HAVE TO GET IT before even considering putting their hand in their pockets and handing you the cash. They know if it is any good for them and to be honest they really are not that bothered by mobile sites at the moment.

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

Now I am sure someone can come on here and sing loud about all the mobile sites they are selling and how easy it is. They will need to go some way to convince me otherwise BUT I love to be proved wrong.

The world out there is a damned tough cookie and people are only buying what they need and what they really really want, not a lot in between.

By the way Mike I really like the mobile sites you are doing (from your example) Is it your own setup or a third party script?

Grahame

If you are giving mobile sites 100% free to your customers why not just do it and then send them the link using the same email structure with a few tweeks. Your customers will then think you did a great thing for them totally free (include $ value). Then go to all their competition and show them their compeition is already mobilized. People in general love to follow the crowd.

If you are giving mobile sites 100% free to your customers why not just do it and then send them the link using the same email structure with a few tweeks. Your customers will then think you did a great thing for them totally free (include $ value). Then go to all their competition and show them their compeition is already mobilized. People in general love to follow the crowd.

Following your suggestion of giving away free sites, then showing their competition that their competitors are mobile, am I to understand that I am charging their competitors for THEIR site?

So what happens when they hear through the grapevine that their competitors got theirs for free?

What does that make me look like? How would I answer their question of why I charged them and not their competitors?

Following your suggestion of giving away free sites, then showing their competition that their competitors are mobile, am I to understand that I am charging their competitors for THEIR site?

So what happens when they hear through the grapevine that their competitors got theirs for free?

What does that make me look like? How would I answer their question of why I charged them and not their competitors?

I'm not sure I like that idea. Or maybe I misunderstood you.

The idea is if you are already providing an existing client services like SEO, main website or something else, you through the mobile site in as a freebie for being a good customer, set up some analytics for yourself to track the traffic results to present to future prospects.

The $$ value bit is just a IM common add on for the person you are giving the free site to establish monetary value in what you just did for free, like the typical lead capture page opt-in "download my free ebook $47 value, yours free today".

If other businesses say, which should be few if any, "well you did it for free for so and so" the response is so and so is a good customer of yours or they have given you lots of business and you did the site up for them to show some client appreciation. Who is going to argue with that its common place for business to do "customer appreciation".

I don't know what other online business you have available but being in sales all these years you could always call on someone you have done business with in the past and set up a free mobile site for them.

The idea is if you are already providing an existing client services like SEO, main website or something else, you through the mobile site in as a freebie for being a good customer, set up some analytics for yourself to track the traffic results to present to future prospects.

The $$ value bit is just a IM common add on for the person you are giving the free site to establish monetary value in what you just did for free, like the typical lead capture page opt-in "download my free ebook $47 value, yours free today".

If other businesses say, which should be few if any, "well you did it for free for so and so" the response is so and so is a good customer of yours or they have given you lots of business and you did the site up for them to show some client appreciation. Who is going to argue with that its common place for business to do "customer appreciation".

I don't know what other online business you have available but being in sales all these years you could always call on someone you have done business with in the past and set up a free mobile site for them.

I agree, but what if someone who has no past customers is thinking of the same strategy and has the same concern, or if the op has some reason for not wanting to contact past customers about it?

It still doesn't have to be a problem, because there are more ways than one to handle it, if it ever comes up that someone finds out that the thing they just paid for was free before, and resents it.

The simple answer is that you had a one time, special giveaway to get the ball rolling when you were starting up, and that they would have gotten the same deal then, but it was a special event, and of course no business can run indefinitely by giving away their main offering-that would not be a business at all, but a charity.

That is all they need to know, although if you want to offer further explanation, you could always say you needed to gather testimonials, or do beta testing, or build your portfolio, but that's over now.

I think that it doesn't make you look bad in the first place though, and anyone who resents you for not continuing the giveaway is likely going to be a pain in the behind anyway, so another way to deal with it would be to "Bart Simpson" them-tell them to eat your shorts...man, or "Jason Bourne" them-give them the beat down of a lifetime.

(Disclaimer: Anyone who follows that last bit of advice is a fool, and I refuse to take the blame for their unwise decision to take the advice of a person who's been "drinking and posting". If you beat someone down because of something I allegedly said, do not bring up my name during the interrogation, or I will send Matt Damon after you)

If you are giving mobile sites 100% free to your customers why not just do it and then send them the link using the same email structure with a few tweeks. Your customers will then think you did a great thing for them totally free (include $ value). Then go to all their competition and show them their compeition is already mobilized. People in general love to follow the crowd.

This is one of the best ideas I have seen in this thread. One other thing I have noticed is that our prospects are more interested in text messaging.

Maybe sell them into text messaging first and then the mobile site becomes a back end sale.

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

I know this thread is kinda dated but I just wanted to add to it here, going with the quote above. I am a web designer, and quite new to mobile marketing and without digging too deep into the mobile industry I had already decided that giving away free mobile websites to comliment the web design packages I create would be a great idea.

I work for a web design company in the UK and we launched mobile web design last year, and I can tell you that its not easy signing clients up to mobile design. I think by adding the packages to yoru main design packages, thus increasing their value you can charge more AND if you may have more updates to do in the future should any part of their business change, there will be more work for you.

I am no Internet Marketer but I do understand value for money and for the client. Its easier to keep a happy client than it is to gain a new one.

Hey Mike....when I first started seeing all the "Stats" on "Mobile" and bought some of the WSOs on "Making Money with Moble"....my first thought was;
"Hey! If I'm the owner of a restaurant, I could give a rip about how many Mobile Phones were sold or how many people are using them or....whatever! My ONLY thought is, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!"

"HOW can "Mobile" help ME...as a restaurant Owner (or a Dentist, or Chiropractor or whatever)

So....since I've been selling Ad Programs to Restaurant Owners for years (Menu Books in Hotel Lobbies, Info Boards on Hotel/Motel Lobby Walls and "TV Channel Guides" in Hotel/Motel Rooms.....my first thought was to INCLUDE a way for "Travelers/Tourists" to FIND my "Mobile Sites" on their Mobile Phones.

AND....instead of offering my new "Mobile" program to everyone and their brother....make it EXCLUSIVE!

So....I put together a "Mobile Directory" of Mobile Sites that Tourists/Travelers who check into Hotels/Motel WILL be interested in (Travlers/Tourists do NOT carry food with them so....they're interested in "Places To Eat or Have Food Delivered to Them!)

And....I provided a way for these "Tourists/Travelers" to FIND "Access" to my Mobile Directories!

Then....when "LITTLE OL' ME" goes in and tells a Restaurant Owner that "Little Ol' ME" can give him an EXCLUSIVE for his "Mexican" (Chinese, Italian, Greek etc) Restaurant....with my "Mobile Directory" that can EASILY be FOUND by Travelers/Tourists checking into local ... Hotels/Motels....and HOW...ONLY HIS.....restaurant can appear on their Mobile Phones!.....the question they ask is NOT, "How Much?'.....the question they ask is...."WHO DO I MAKE THE CHECK TO?"

Also....Mike....what if you were to Show a (Dentist, Medical Clinic, Chiro, House Painter, Pest Control, Plumber, Roofer...etc) how THEY could be the ONLY biz in THEIR CATEGORY.....in a "Mobile Directory" that was "Put In Front of "Home Buyers"? (Yeah, homes are STILL being sold! 83 last mo in my town...down from 123 a year ago BUT....83 is 83 families NOT zero families!)

Again....because you are offering an "exclusive" to their PRIME PROSPECTS....the question also is NOT, "How Much?" but...."To Whom Do I make My Check!"

Ever since the "Mobile" thing appeared on the scene....my thought has been, "HOW" are prospects going to FIND these Mobile Sites?"

When you show them HOW and they can be the ONLY ONE IN THEIR CATEGORY....makes ALL the difference in the world!

So....put on yer "Thinking Cap" and put together a program that will;
1) Show how prospects can FIND their Mobile Site
2) How they can "beat their competition"

Don Alm...."marketing guy"

Bingo! You hit the nail right on the head. "Exclusivity" is the key to mobile this early in the game. Your mobile directory is a fantastic idea. Smart, direct... and dare I say it again... Exclusive.

Hey Mike....when I first started seeing all the "Stats" on "Mobile" and bought some of the WSOs on "Making Money with Moble"....my first thought was;
"Hey! If I'm the owner of a restaurant, I could give a rip about how many Mobile Phones were sold or how many people are using them or....whatever! My ONLY thought is, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!"

"HOW can "Mobile" help ME...as a restaurant Owner (or a Dentist, or Chiropractor or whatever)

So....since I've been selling Ad Programs to Restaurant Owners for years (Menu Books in Hotel Lobbies, Info Boards on Hotel/Motel Lobby Walls and "TV Channel Guides" in Hotel/Motel Rooms.....my first thought was to INCLUDE a way for "Travelers/Tourists" to FIND my "Mobile Sites" on their Mobile Phones.

AND....instead of offering my new "Mobile" program to everyone and their brother....make it EXCLUSIVE!

So....I put together a "Mobile Directory" of Mobile Sites that Tourists/Travelers who check into Hotels/Motel WILL be interested in (Travlers/Tourists do NOT carry food with them so....they're interested in "Places To Eat or Have Food Delivered to Them!)

And....I provided a way for these "Tourists/Travelers" to FIND "Access" to my Mobile Directories!

Then....when "LITTLE OL' ME" goes in and tells a Restaurant Owner that "Little Ol' ME" can give him an EXCLUSIVE for his "Mexican" (Chinese, Italian, Greek etc) Restaurant....with my "Mobile Directory" that can EASILY be FOUND by Travelers/Tourists checking into local ... Hotels/Motels....and HOW...ONLY HIS.....restaurant can appear on their Mobile Phones!.....the question they ask is NOT, "How Much?'.....the question they ask is...."WHO DO I MAKE THE CHECK TO?"

Also....Mike....what if you were to Show a (Dentist, Medical Clinic, Chiro, House Painter, Pest Control, Plumber, Roofer...etc) how THEY could be the ONLY biz in THEIR CATEGORY.....in a "Mobile Directory" that was "Put In Front of "Home Buyers"? (Yeah, homes are STILL being sold! 83 last mo in my town...down from 123 a year ago BUT....83 is 83 families NOT zero families!)

Again....because you are offering an "exclusive" to their PRIME PROSPECTS....the question also is NOT, "How Much?" but...."To Whom Do I make My Check!"

Ever since the "Mobile" thing appeared on the scene....my thought has been, "HOW" are prospects going to FIND these Mobile Sites?"

When you show them HOW and they can be the ONLY ONE IN THEIR CATEGORY....makes ALL the difference in the world!

So....put on yer "Thinking Cap" and put together a program that will;
1) Show how prospects can FIND their Mobile Site
2) How they can "beat their competition"

Don Alm...."marketing guy"

Great post. Very informative and realistic. I'm extremely new to mobile marketing but I'm very committed. I've spent the last two days on my laptop researching and gathering any useful info and I plan on doing this for the next couple months. One question for you, how do I make a mobile directory?

WOW! Kevin! I just re-read your post and discovered a GREAT, PROMO idea!

You said;I did the exact same thing in a college campus which holds over 1000 beds and caters for tourists in the off season when college is closed. Same deal. Promoting the mobile site in all the rooms.

(Now HERE'S where the "Unique Promo Idea" comes in)A business card promoting the site is slipped into the wallet of their keycard upon checkin - for both places.

Wow! Again...WOW!

MOSt of you also probably missed this...excuse my over-exhuberance but...."SLIPPING A BUSINESS CARD INTO THE WALLET OF KEY-CARDS upon check-in"....is STUPENDOUS!

Why? "Keycards" with advertising on them ARE EXPENSIVE!

One of my first thoughts on "Marketing" my "Mobile Directory" was to concentrate on Targeting "Tourists/Travelers" staying at local Hotels/Motels.

My thought was to "Find Ways to let the "Room Guests" (who have NO food with them and are looking for "Places To Eat" or "Have Food Delivered to their Room")....was to put a QR Code (and the URL addy of my Directory....ONTO a "KeyCard".

However....this is Expensive because the KeyCards have to be printed on Plastic and..."electronically adjusted to the Hotel'Motel Door System... so...I then thought about dropping the KeyCard idea.

WOW! FOR LESS THAN A PENNY APIECE....I can have An Ad (+my QR Code) for my Mobile Directory...shoved into the envelope that holds the expensive KeyCard....so....EVERY ONE of 10,000 GUESTS... checking into my participating Hotels/Motels....WILL SEE THE AD FOR MY "DIRECTORY" that will provide these "Tourists/Travelers" with VALUABLE INFO on;WHERE TO EAT (including how to get Pizza delivered to their rooms)WHERE TO SHOPLOCAL ATTRACTIONSLOCAL SERVICES (Car Wash, Auto Repair, Oil Change)REAL ESTATEBEAUTY SALONS

MOWEE....WOWEE!

As an example;Let's say you have 6 Hotels with 100 rms each...who've agreed to HAND each of their guests.... a "Business Card"...along with their KeyCard....when they check in.

Let's say the occupancy Rate is just 50% (in summer it's more like 80%).....this means that on any given day there are 300 rooms being rented.

In a month....it's 300 x 30 = 9,000 of YOUR business cards being HANDED to "Visitors"....and your cost is $70!

If YOU were the owner of a Restaurant, Car Wash, Gift Shop, Beauty Salon, Local Attraction....WHAT do you think it would be worth to have YOUR BIZ SEEN by 9 to 10,000 Visitors A MONTH?

$100/mo?....$200/mo?...more?

Well....ya don't know UNTIL ya try to sell it! So....guess what Donnie-boy is gonna be doin' the next few weeks?

I'm sorry BUT....it seems that MOST "viewers" HERE...don't have a "clue" on how the "Real World WORKS!

So...without sounding "High-Falutin" or "Snobbish" ( I have PAID MY DUES and am ENTITLED to "Speak Out" on a subject I know a LOT about.... meeting "Face-To-Face"...with REAL Business Owners....finding WHAT they "WANT"....and delivering IT to them....since 1980)

OK...here goes;

Your question is;"What is the incentive for the hotel owner? Why would he give away your card instead promote some of his/her own stuph...?"

I will begin by saying; WHY...will ANY business owner DO anything?

Well...for a number of reasons BUT....what we are talking about here is, "WHY will Hotel Owners (or Mgrs) want to "Take The TIME" to participate in MY program?....telling their Front Desk Staff to....Place a Card IN THE HAND of EVERY Guest checking in?

1) MY program is totally FREE to them
2) MY program makes them appear.... "More Professional" and with the "Convenience" of their Guests...at Heart (Hey! Hotels/Motels are in the SERVICE business! They "serve" travelers. So...if they can provide MORE "Service" to their customers....does that make them appear "Better" or "worse")
3) MY program SAVES TIME of their Front Desk Staff...answering questions about...."Where To Eat, Where To Shop, What attractions are nearby.....Where to get ANY Service!

"Guest Directories" have been around for MANY years. These are PRINTED Booklets... with many Pages full of Ads and Info about the LOCA area.

These "printed" booklets are usually placed IN A DRAWER....waiting for the Room Guests to FIND THEM....then....because there are MANY PAGES... the Room Guests will NOT see ALL the ads unless they TURN THE PAGES!

So....what I am doing is making it EASY for Travlers/Tourists....Visitors to the area....to FIND....Info THEY are interested in.

Thus....when "I" talk to a Hotel/Motel Owner or GM....I talk in terms of "Stuff" that HE....is interested in...."Providing MORE service and convenience for his Guests AND....making it EASIER for his Staff!

No if anything your price might be too low though I am a fan of upfront fee plus hosting.

Hosting = $29/mo? IDK I think I'd go lower but charge $299 up front.

It seems like you are offering a lot but what are you offering the customers? Aka how does it relate to their businesses? I think that may be the disconnect here.

How will paying you this amount bring them business? Why will it bring them business? Also have them do the math. It will bring how many customers per month? How much is a customer worth? etc.

Hey Aaron. No, I'm not asking for any monthly cost. Just one annual cost of $350.
Which divided by 12 is around $29 a month.

Your question about why will it bring them business? And how many customers a month it
will bring them? How can anyone REALLY answer that?

I can only give them the venue to bring in more customers. If they don't promote
their site, or make sure their customers and potential customers know about their mobile site,
that's on them, not me.

The questions you ask are sound, I have no idea how many customers it could bring in.
That's so abstract. There's so many factors that THEY have control of to make it
worthwhile and profitable for them.

Hey Aaron. No, I'm not asking for any monthly cost. Just one annual cost of $350.
Which divided by 12 is around $29 a month.

Your question about why will it bring them business? And how many customers a month it
will bring them? How can anyone REALLY answer that?

I can only give them the venue to bring in more customers. If they don't promote
their site, or make sure their customers and potential customers know about their mobile site,
that's on them, not me.

The questions you ask are sound, I have no idea how many customers it could bring in.
That's so abstract. There's so many factors that THEY have control of to make it
worthwhile and profitable for them.

Again, that's on them to do the right thing.

But I appreciate your input.

Mike

You say it's up to them to contact customers not you. You might make the suggestion that when they take a reservation they get the necessary contact information so that they can promote the app. This might help with sales.

I've got some similar mobile exp dealing with restaurants, though not mobile sites but applications / SMS that at the end of the day present the same value for not much investment.

The major issue is, that restaurants haven't seen this as a "norm" or a standard. Hell, think about how many don't have websites now or just barely got on board with minimal functionality (some html site that displays their basic information) in the past 5 years.

What they see is a potential risk they have to take. And, since most non-chain restaurants have razor thin margins, they become inherently opposed to taking any kind of minimal risk, despite presentation.

Let me put it this way. One of my local pizza shops, who I've been a loyal customer to since I was a child, turned me down for a FREE service because he refused any kind of business model that "offered deals." He explained he wouldn't make money if he offered any kind of discount. I countered with the idea that you could raise prices and at the same time give out discounts to equate to an effective net sum of zero while still boosting the returns from the psychological benefit of "a deal." But any kind of high level thinking just got an angered response.

I think to succeed pushing to restaurants you've got to come up with a model that makes you assume 100% of the risk. Could the rewards be high? Possibly... that's why it's risk.

Very informative post DEaFeYe. You probably hit the nail on the head.

Your last comment about coming up with a model where I assume all of the risk
seems like something that would make most of the people I saw react favorably.

But what could that model be?

The only thing I can think of is to build them a site with all the amenities that
I mentioned I do, and just ask them to pay $29 a month from the get-go.

But then I have to chase them monthly for billing. I was trying to stay away from that idea.
Plus, that's a LOT of upfront work to do for an initial $29 payment.

A friend and I have been kicking around the idea of doing what you are doing for a while now. It's an entirely new field to us both so we are proceeding with caution, however, I wanted to share some things with you that we have discussed.

I'm assuming you are working in New Jersey and I know nothing about that area so I could be wrong about restaurants there, but everything I've learned about restaurants over the years is that most of them don't make the profit we think they do. So they are perhaps not the best "first target" for this type of product.

Instead, consider this...

People are going to mobile devices.. no question. We've all read/heard the stats on where mobile will be in the coming years. Okay, so, in a way it's still in it's infancy. So you have to figure out who in your market stands to get the most bang for their buck right now... "pre-mobile-boom" period. (Personally, I think restaurants will come on board soon, but perhaps not as the first on the bandwagon.)

Think of services you might find yourself desperately needing, without warning, and would pay dearly to have at your fingertips.

How about...

Wreckers?
Plumbers?
Auto Mechanics?
HVAC?

If I break down on the side of the Interstate I am in a world of hurt. Wrecker companies who are smart enough to have a mobile site can clean up because everyone has a mobile phone linked to the net (or soon will) and they can find him in an instant from (almost) anywhere.

Just a thought.

You might also consider charging more. People believe they have to pay to get good products/services. If something seems too good to be true they think it is and they'll pass. If you want to test this out, try two different packages at different price points and see which gets the most takers.

We sent out 15 test emails to businesses and got 4 immediate responses (all literally within 5 minutes, and all along the lines of... YES.. definitely or YES I've been looking for this) at $500 to set it up and $50/mo to maintain, with a one-year contract (all explained in the initial email). So I believe the market exists, you just have to find the right approach for your area and choose the right targets.

You may also get some ideas over at the copywriting forum about tweaking your pitch or sales copy, or getting new ideas to test out different methods/approaches.

Hi Chris, I live in New Zealand so please don't see my request a potential threat to your local market but I read the following: "We sent out 15 test emails to businesses and got 4 immediate responses (all literally within 5 minutes, and all along the lines of... YES.. definitely or YES I've been looking for this) at $500 to set it up and $50/mo to maintain, with a one-year contract (all explained in the initial email). So I believe the market exists, you just have to find the right approach for your area and choose the right targets.

Any chance I could get a copy of the test email you sent out for me to try with my local businesses?

We are small biz owners recently in market for regular website. Sorry but ongoing price way too high. Sell site design, then they can find hosting or have option of hosting w you. People don't like or want ongoing financial commitment. Plus just tonight I found template online for mobile site $10 a month, can be customized and didn't look too bad. I'm sure your custom work is far superior but not $29 a month forever superior. I'd always assume ongoing hosting is a scam...sorry

A friend and I have been kicking around the idea of doing what you are doing for a while now. It's an entirely new field to us both so we are proceeding with caution, however, I wanted to share some things with you that we have discussed.

I'm assuming you are working in New Jersey and I know nothing about that area so I could be wrong about restaurants there, but everything I've learned about restaurants over the years is that most of them don't make the profit we think they do. So they are perhaps not the best "first target" for this type of product.

Instead, consider this...

People are going to mobile devices.. no question. We've all read/heard the stats on where mobile will be in the coming years. Okay, so, in a way it's still in it's infancy. So you have to figure out who in your market stands to get the most bang for their buck right now... "pre-mobile-boom" period. (Personally, I think restaurants will come on board soon, but perhaps not as the first on the bandwagon.)

Think of services you might find yourself desperately needing, without warning, and would pay dearly to have at your fingertips.

How about...

Wreckers?
Plumbers?
Auto Mechanics?
HVAC?

If I break down on the side of the Interstate I am in a world of hurt. Wrecker companies who are smart enough to have a mobile site can clean up because everyone has a mobile phone linked to the net (or soon will) and they can find him in an instant from (almost) anywhere.

Just a thought.

You might also consider charging more. People believe they have to pay to get good products/services. If something seems too good to be true they think it is and they'll pass. If you want to test this out, try two different packages at different price points and see which gets the most takers.

We sent out 15 test emails to businesses and got 4 immediate responses (all literally within 5 minutes, and all along the lines of... YES.. definitely or YES I've been looking for this) at $500 to set it up and $50/mo to maintain, with a one-year contract (all explained in the initial email). So I believe the market exists, you just have to find the right approach for your area and choose the right targets.

You may also get some ideas over at the copywriting forum about tweaking your pitch or sales copy, or getting new ideas to test out different methods/approaches.

Hi Mike ..
The first thing that came to mind based on reading the posts above was .. something that I saw on a video from Ryan Deiss .. He explained about one of his friends who was into mobile marketing .. her proceedure was to walk into the business and ask ... If I could get you on the first page of google for $20 .. would you be interested in abc ...

She followed with 20 questions based on what current marketing the business was doing ( questions based around the service she was offering ) .. which pretty much supported what her product was whithout saying what it was ...

When she returned with the results the next week, she had won the business over and they were prepaired to pay her for ongoing results based on her putting her money where her mouth was ( so to speak ).

I suppose everyone likes to see results before parting with any money, but $20 is just more to tease the person as they wouldnt really get that much service from anyone else for that amount of money .. and it also gets them thinking of you as the go to man .. just a thought!

Your last comment about coming up with a model where I assume all of the risk
seems like something that would make most of the people I saw react favorably.

But what could that model be?

The only thing I can think of is to build them a site with all the amenities that
I mentioned I do, and just ask them to pay $29 a month from the get-go.

But then I have to chase them monthly for billing. I was trying to stay away from that idea.
Plus, that's a LOT of upfront work to do for an initial $29 payment.

Then who's to say that they'll stay on after one month?

Any other ideas, or comments about that idea are welcome.

Thanks to all so far for all replies.

Mike

I agree, the problem was with who you were hitting up. Restaurants are barely paying the bills in this hard economy. You have to solicit businesses that are not feeling the pinch of the economy so much.

Go in with real stats on how many people are searching for their business and similar businesses on Google from their mobile device. Explain how not having a mobile version is loosing business because of being hard to navigate and slow to load. Use Google stats to back this up.

Give them free mobile ppc advertising on Google or Facebook to GUARANTEE targeted leads to the new mobile site.

Explain how they can add a QR code to their current advertising to drive traffic to the mobile site.

In other words do not sell the mobile site. Sell the ways you are going to drive mobile traffic to the site.

I still find selling mobile sites as a stand alone product to be difficult. I have got the best results when selling the mobile site as part of a package.

What are you doing as far as following up after your inital meeting? Are you leaving the door open for a return visits? as you develop additional ideas to drive traffic to the M site do you the oppprunity to repitch? B2B is all about relationship building and I was just curious to see how you are working on building the relationship.

What are you doing as far as following up after your inital meeting? Are you leaving the door open for a return visits? as you develop additional ideas to drive traffic to the M site do you the oppprunity to repitch? B2B is all about relationship building and I was just curious to see how you are working on building the relationship.

With all due respect to your post, I said I put in a good months work so far,
so how often am I supposed to follow up? Daily? Weekly?

Why would I want to keep banging on their 'not interested' door when there
are others that haven't heard from me yet?

As far as building a 'relationship' with them, that premise is so over 'sold'.
It's a bunch of BS.

If someone walked in with something they really, really wanted, they could give
a rats a$$ about building a relationship with that person. They would buy immediately.

So please spare me with the 'relationship' riff. Maybe that could be true with a
very high ticket item that needs cultivating and personal interaction.

Hi Quentin, I'm honored to get a post from you. It is your stretch-to-fit script that
is the backbone of my sites. I've learned a great deal from you and WillR.

So my hand is extended to you for a hearty handshake a big 'thank you'.

I have no idea what things are like down under, but here in South Jersey, which is
what we call the southern part of New Jersey, things are far from cosmopolitan.

It's very rural, or there are a plethora of very small towns backtobacktoback.
I guess what I'm trying to convey is that most have no idea what a QR code is.

Of course I demo one and show how it leads to their mobile site. The reaction I usually
get is like I'm showing them something that is of no use to them.

Or they think it's 'cool', but don't see the need for a mobile site. I can tell them it
can help bring in more customers, new customers, but it's up to them to promote
it properly for that to happen. The site and code won't do it automatically for them.

I thought about using print ads, but haven't gone that route.

As far as you mentioning that you have wineries, mechanics, plumbers, event managers, retailers especially clothes and salons, I haven't gotten it in my head how a mobile site can benefit them. Maybe I'm just thick as a brick. If someone in those niches asked me
how a mobile site could help them, I'd have no real concrete answer. I wish I did though.

Mike, I think it would be worth a try. Find one of those restaurant's print ads. Photoshop a qr code that leads to a mock up site, coupon page, heck put a video of yourself on there saying, "this could be you talking to your customers"! Then visit the place with their ad in hand and show them how they can provide so much more info by just placing that qr code in the ad. Scan it and show them on the phone. I don't know if it will work, in your area or not, but it might be worth the test. Ron

Mike, I think it would be worth a try. Find one of those restaurant's print ads. Photoshop a qr code that leads to a mock up site, coupon page, heck put a video of yourself on there saying, "this could be you talking to your customers"! Then visit the place with their ad in hand and show them how they can provide so much more info by just placing that qr code in the ad. Scan it and show them on the phone. I don't know if it will work, in your area or not, but it might be worth the test. Ron

To add to this, you could use this idea and talk to the owner telling them you got this new technology for generating new customers for restaurants and you are looking for someone to help test it out, no charge for the new business they will get.

With a QR in the paper or whatever print ad, you are bound to get good results. Then after you get results and its time to puhll the plug on the test,. They can buy the site for a discount for helping you out.

Hi Quentin, I'm honored to get a post from you. It is your stretch-to-fit script that
is the backbone of my sites. I've learned a great deal from you and WillR.

So my hand is extended to you for a hearty handshake a big 'thank you'.

I have no idea what things are like down under, but here in South Jersey, which is
what we call the southern part of New Jersey, things are far from cosmopolitan.

It's very rural, or there are a plethora of very small towns backtobacktoback.
I guess what I'm trying to convey is that most have no idea what a QR code is.

Of course I demo one and show how it leads to their mobile site. The reaction I usually
get is like I'm showing them something that is of no use to them.

Or they think it's 'cool', but don't see the need for a mobile site. I can tell them it
can help bring in more customers, new customers, but it's up to them to promote
it properly for that to happen. The site and code won't do it automatically for them.

I thought about using print ads, but haven't gone that route.

As far as you mentioning that you have wineries, mechanics, plumbers, event managers, retailers especially clothes and salons, I haven't gotten it in my head how a mobile site can benefit them. Maybe I'm just thick as a brick. If someone in those niches asked me
how a mobile site could help them, I'd have no real concrete answer. I wish I did though.

Thanks again for your post.

It is all about behaviour. Everyone wants the latest and greatest piece of technology. Why do I use my mobile more than my laptop? Speed. No firing up the computer, no waiting, I get what I am searching for fast. Every business knows they need to be on the internet, why? It's because they know their customers look to the internet first.

Maybe I am the few, I would like to hear from others here who have a smart phone what their mobile Vs desktop usage is.

Mobile is where the customers for local are heading and while we may not be there just yet but soon, I believe, desktop websites will be a shrinking secondary source of traffic for local businesses

A) Multiple mobile websites that cater to specfic sources of visits:
1 site for customers who come from google maps
1 site for those from social media
1 site for those coming from google mobile search
1 site for those coming from main site

B) Text message marketing
Use mobile web to garvest email addresses and phone numbers of their customers and keep them informed of specials etc.

---kick the door down with a package like that --- they'll buy. Mobile version of their site and a QR code wont get you much... people need to start addressing mobile as ONE BIG OBJECTIVE... not small peices.

Your are a bad salesman. I have no problem selling mobile sites and qr code solutions. Why? Because im not selling the product im offering a solution to make their business more profitable.

I sell the dream not the service. And btw i charge at least 4 times what you charge.

Do you have a good webiste? Do you have testimonials? If you dont have good video testimonjals go buy some from fiverr.

My atitude when i sell my service is i am first q paying customer. I get to know who the owner is as a satisfied customer. I then mention to the owner how much i love thier business and wish i had knkwn about it earlier because this is the first time i ever heard of this place.

Btw i typed this on my ipad so my spelling and gramar sucks...my bad

I say i have lived in my city for x years and this place is new. Its a shame because if more people knew about their business they would have a lot more satisfied customers. Imply that their place is a diamond in the ruff.

then you off handedly mention you do online marketing for a living and yoj would love to help them out and give them your professional coaching you usually charge for. Then you say i wish we can talk now but im in a hurry. Then you schedule an appointment on the spot with the owner.

Wam bam thank you mam..

Then you go to your scheduled meeting and you position yourself like your doing them a favor being there. You give them free advice then you mention the service you are selling....then and only then do you talk price and your service. Only after you have built a relationship.

I hope this makes you six figures like it has for me brother....dont give up...

Your are a bad salesman. I have no problem selling mobile sites and qr code solutions. Why? Because im not selling the product im offering a solution to make their business more profitable.

I sell the dream not the service. And btw i charge at least 4 times what you charge.

Do you have a good webiste? Do you have testimonials? If you dont have good video testimonjals go buy some from fiverr.

My atitude when i sell my service is i am first q paying customer. I get to know who the owner is as a satisfied customer. I then mention to the owner how much i love thier business and wish i had knkwn about it earlier because this is the first time i ever heard of this place.

Btw i typed this on my ipad so my spelling and gramar sucks...my bad

I say i have lived in my city for x years and this place is new. Its a shame because if more people knew about their business they would have a lot more satisfied customers. Imply that their place is a diamond in the ruff.

then you off handedly mention you do online marketing for a living and yoj would love to help them out and give them your professional coaching you usually charge for. Then you say i wish we can talk now but im in a hurry. Then you schedule an appointment on the spot with the owner.

Wam bam thank you mam..

Then you go to your scheduled meeting and you position yourself like your doing them a favor being there. You give them free advice then you mention the service you are selling....then and only then do you talk price and your service. Only after you have built a relationship.

I hope this makes you six figures like it has for me brother....dont give up...

I agree with the gist of this post-except the idea to buy fake testimonials. If you do that, you are not an honorable business person, but a liar, plain and simple.

If your potential customers can't trust you not to lie to get their business, you are a scammer.

Other than that spectacularly bad advice, I think your strategy makes a lot of sense.

There are lots of facts out there that mobile is an significant factor to sales, use those! Smartphone use is taking over desktop use for example.

Pre-qualify aswell! Make sure the people you contact have a nice website that looks like it's updated regularly - means that the business owner knows that online works for them.

Those facts are all fine and dandy and should be used in your pitch somewhere, but your main focus should be selling them on them losing clients by not having a mobile website... sell them on the pain of lost, you need to keep on telling them they are losing clients because they do not have a mobile website.

If you have a meeting make a quick mock-up and show them first their own site on your phone and then show them your mock-up site and drive the point home of how important good user experience is.

That is the angle you should play, don't go telling them all kind of tech mambo jambo, because they don't care, they care about the bottom line, period...

Show what they have now and why their website is hurting that bottom-line That is the only point in my humble opinion that you should be focusing your selling efforts on.

And this is nothing unethical either because it is all true, you're not dishonest here, everything you say is the truth, you will be helping them out.. and you will get more work if you know what you're doing.

I just wanted to get a client. Plus I didn't have to enter the menu items.

Anyway I think ringing and making an appointment and cold calling are the best methods.

Sure you have to pick your times. I have been out at 7,8,9 at night cold calling.

I can understand that countries areas are a bit tougher because they may be behind the times and I would go for the directory idea and use QR Codes and maybe even get your local radio station to promote it.

Meaning you build a Mobile Directory and have links from that to clients mobile sites and have the radio station promote the .mobi address. Naturally you might want to give the radio station a free page.

Put QR Codes up around the town pointing to the mobile website directory.

Anyway that's my 2cents worth.

I registered the business name Market 2 Mobiles and am operating in Australia.

I go out and eat all the time. If I can find a restaurant that I like eating at and who might want a mobile site I may be able to work out a deal where they get the site for x discounted dollars + free food for a whole month or some such.

For me it would be like getting paid the amount I normally spend for food since...well...I am going to spend it anyway.

I really appreciate this thread, I went to a webinar, that I was invited to, where they talked about how you can make lots of money with a mobile app business.

I see the mobile movement potential like I did eBooks years ago, before the Kindle and such, where IMers were the only ones I knew of that used them.

I remember telling my husband..."Would't it be great if actual book stories would be put in eBook format? Back then eBooks were predominately in .exe not PDF." His thought was, as a book lover, "I do not think that eBooks will become very popular."

All this to point out that you are a mobile marketing pioneer...I cannot imagine that it is as easy as fellow marketers say. I believe it will become popular in time but right now most restaurants, dentists, retails shops, etc just don't understand or see a real need for why they should have a mobile site.

It will take effort to convince the target market...but are they a target yet if they really don't want a mobile site?

I don't know, I am still learning...but this is what I am being taught...find a market and see what that market is looking for / needs.

I believe, right now, mobile sites are hot in the eyes of marketers that know that other marketers are hungry to make money on the next big thing...

Yes, the mobile movement IS going to be big but until then I wish everyone the best who endeavors as a pioneer in the mobile world.

Hi mak25, your problem is negative thinking, and that is what blocking you from getting business. Please watch the movie The Secret, you can see 20 minute summary on Youtube, and you will understand what I mean. You can check out many other videos on this subject on Youtube, also check out videos of the speakers in the Secret, especially Bob Proctor, Joe Vitalle, trust me on this one, I've been there. Unless you release negative thoughts, you are not going to get anywhere.

Hi mak25, your problem is negative thinking, and that is what blocking you from getting business. Please watch the movie The Secret, you can see 20 minute summary on Youtube, and you will understand what I mean. You can check out many other videos on this subject on Youtube, also check out videos of the speakers in the Secret, especially Bob Proctor, Joe Vitalle, trust me on this one, I've been there. Unless you release negative thoughts, you are not going to get anywhere.

Ohw please cut out with the secret crap and scam artists like Bob Proctor, Joe Vitalle...

This isn't the mind power section nonsense, i don't think he is waiting on advice from people who suggest that you have to think real real hard and you will get it... New age bullcrap never made anyone rich acept the people selling that crap...

OT
Have you tried emailing people, i only use emailing now and it works great, you have to think in big numbers though, i used to do postcards, but this way is much better...

I use thunderbird with mailmerge, construct a good email that sent them to a landingspage with a screenshot made in mobilizer of their website and offer them a free no strings attached mock-up, when they wan tto take me up on that offer they have to fill in a form that will ad them to my list for later marketing.

When i am done with the mock-up i create a Paypal button and when they have paid i finnish of the mobile site and sent them a mail with another download page where i upsel other services

All in all I did about 65 in person, eyeball to eyeball demos.
Some already had websites, others did not.

Either way, most responses were 'Hey, pretty nice. You do nice work'.
And I do. Attached is a sample.

But when push came to shove: No deal. No sale. Not something they
want to part with their money for.

It appears you only tried to sell them only the aesthetic benefits of having a mobile website. I see you made no mention of how, by using your $29/month mobile website, it would bring in more customers, thus bringing in more income. Like it was stated earlier, business owners don't want or need a mobile website just to have a mobile website. If you can translate to them how your product/service will bring in more customers, then I'm sure you would have had better conversion rates. Show them a (good) ROI and there should be no qualms of using what you have to offer.

Did you make any mention of the approximate number of people searching for their services from their mobile phones? How about the search engine penalizations they'll incur for not having a mobile website (myth?). Those that do own websites, how did their site display on a mobile browser? Did you happen to show the comparisons between the two?

As far as niches, I'd target those that deal in emergency situations. You listed locksmiths, and I would venture to say towing companies would be another niche to target. Unless you're carrying your laptop around and you find yourself locked out of your house or stranded on the side of the road, your mobile phone (if it's equipped with a web browser) is your only source of research and possible solution. How about service companies, such as HVAC, plumbers, etc.? Granted, folks could do a search on their laptop/desktop at home, but they're something to consider for mobile as well.

We as mobile marketers know that everything is trending towards mobile, so it can be frustrating when potential clients fail to realize what seems simple and normal to us. I'm sure it will be a matter of time, but til then, keep pressing on!

It appears you only tried to sell them only the aesthetic benefits of having a mobile website. I see you made no mention of how, by using your $29/month mobile website, it would bring in more customers, thus bringing in more income. Like it was stated earlier, business owners don't want or need a mobile website just to have a mobile website. If you can translate to them how your product/service will bring in more customers, then I'm sure you would have had better conversion rates. Show them a (good) ROI and there should be no qualms of using what you have to offer.

Did you make any mention of the approximate number of people searching for their services from their mobile phones? How about the search engine penalizations they'll incur for not having a mobile website (myth?). Those that do own websites, how did their site display on a mobile browser? Did you happen to show the comparisons between the two?

As far as niches, I'd target those that deal in emergency situations. You listed locksmiths, and I would venture to say towing companies would be another niche to target. Unless you're carrying your laptop around and you find yourself locked out of your house or stranded on the side of the road, your mobile phone (if it's equipped with a web browser) is your only source of research and possible solution. How about service companies, such as HVAC, plumbers, etc.? Granted, folks could do a search on their laptop/desktop at home, but they're something to consider for mobile as well.

We as mobile marketers know that everything is trending towards mobile, so it can be frustrating when potential clients fail to realize what seems simple and normal to us. I'm sure it will be a matter of time, but til then, keep pressing on!

Here is also something too consider, I am on my mobile surfing 90% of the time. In fact, I am on it right now. Whenever I look for a local services, I am on my mobile. Whenever, I am on the road, I am on my mobile. All you have to do is tell these guys to look around in their store, on the sidewalk, in the mall, on transit, hell in BC Can they made it against the law to be on a haldheld device in your car... Bottom line, mobile use is out of control.

I used to own 2 pizza places and a steak, seafood and pasta house I had these for around 12 years. I was pretty well set as far as food suppliers go, so this one food rep came in one day, introduced his self and asked if he could price out what I was currently buying, I told him politely that as much food as I purchase that I was getting super good deals, he said fair enough and walked out the door.

The very next week on the same day he walked in again, he said he was just stopping by with a flier on the weekly specials his company was running, I didn't give him a order or really the time of day. Well he kept doing this every week on the same day and always got the same answer. After about 4 or 5 weeks of this I thought that if this guy comes in week after week and week after week he gets turned down then maybe I should give him a crack at it.

On one week when he came in I was ready for him with all of my invoices for the last 4 months,, he sat down and for a couple of hours he went through line by line and priced me out, well to my amazement he saved me $2500 per week on my purchases so he walked out that day with a 12k order...

You might ask what does this have to do with mobile sites and qr codes,, well this guy was not dumb by stopping by every week he was building a trust with me, he was letting me know that he was there every week and I could count on him to be there for me.

So the moral of the story is,, stop by and say hi from time to time,, don't be pushy and eventually you will see the benefits.

So the moral of the story is,, stop by and say hi from time to time,, don't be pushy and eventually you will see the benefits.

Thanks for the post ... I was not going to post because I read some of the post and the original poster somehow thinks that his age means that he knows more than most about marketing and it does not really seem that he wants advice.

But if his sales and marketing offline is as cocky as the post that I have seen then I see why he might be having problems closing client.

I am kind of lost I don't have much problems closing anyone as I lead with the old know like and trust.

I never lead with technology...

I also lead with the benefits ... and how a mobile website will add to their bottom line... Small business only care about one thing... HOW IS THIS TECHNOLOGY GOING TO HELP ME!!!

The focus should always be on the client needs ....!!!!!!!!!!

Now here is my edge ... I do use dudamobile. ....

Why is that a edge because when I go to a prospect their site is already half completed.

They see that I took notice in them and their business ....

Putting them first ...showing them that I care about their business....

Thanks for the post ... I was not going to post because I read some of the post and the original poster somehow thinks that his age means that he knows more than most about marketing and it does not really seem that he wants advice.

But if his sales and marketing offline is as cocky as the post that I have seen then I see why he might be having problems closing client.

I am kind of lost I don't have much problems closing anyone as I lead with the old know like and trust.

I never lead with technology...

I also lead with the benefits ... and how a mobile website will add to their bottom line... Small business only care about one thing... HOW IS THIS TECHNOLOGY GOING TO HELP ME!!!

The focus should always be on the client needs ....!!!!!!!!!!

Now here is my edge ... I do use dudamobile. ....

Why is that a edge because when I go to a prospect their site is already half completed.

They see that I took notice in them and their business ....

Putting them first ...showing them that I care about their business....

That's been my approach for years...my gut feeling is this chap is donig a lot of selling and telling without any listening. Age doesn't make you better at your craft...skill does. You're right in that. When I was a rookie sales person, best advice that was ever given me was "two ears and one mouth...that's because you should listen twice as much as you speak." Works like a charm ask a million questions then sell them what they want...it's so much easier that way.

It work for any niches.
Build a mobile directory for each niche you want to target: Dentists, restaurants...

Then go out face to face and suggest them their mobile website like you did before but add the following: If you order a mobile site we include free your site in it as it's a mobile directory. A $$$ value!

Now if they don't see any of their competitors they might say not interested, what you should do is get businesses a free test like 1 year subscription and 3 months free limited to 10 people, now you have these 10 people you can go out and chase other businesses for full price.

It's always because they see competitors in it that make them a decision

As you have been in sales I understand that you know that it is all about testing and measuring.

Finding the right approach can sometimes take a lot of work but once you find the right approach then you find the gold.

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

1. I established a QR Code site for Australia at Marketing For Australian Businesses with a generator that sends me the people who generate QR Codes for their business and this gives me 20 to 30 leads a month.

I also get a lot of phone calls for clients who just want to get a QR Code and Mobile Site.

2. There is an old saying in Internet Marketing which states the money is in the list. When I started I did not have a list so I contacted businesses that did and did some deals which got me established and also got me referrals. Printers, promotions companies, advertisers etc.

3. I hired a lady to do moc ups for businesses and walked in with a QR Code to their moc up and this converts quite well for cold calling.

Thanks Quentin for sharing your tips, I've visit your site too and I think this is one of the best idea to find customers.

Originally Posted by Quentin

Hi Mike

As you have been in sales I understand that you know that it is all about testing and measuring.

Finding the right approach can sometimes take a lot of work but once you find the right approach then you find the gold.

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

1. I established a QR Code site for Australia at Marketing For Australian Businesses with a generator that sends me the people who generate QR Codes for their business and this gives me 20 to 30 leads a month.

I also get a lot of phone calls for clients who just want to get a QR Code and Mobile Site.

2. There is an old saying in Internet Marketing which states the money is in the list. When I started I did not have a list so I contacted businesses that did and did some deals which got me established and also got me referrals. Printers, promotions companies, advertisers etc.

3. I hired a lady to do moc ups for businesses and walked in with a QR Code to their moc up and this converts quite well for cold calling.

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

1. I established a QR Code site for Australia at Marketing For Australian Businesses with a generator that sends me the people who generate QR Codes for their business and this gives me 20 to 30 leads a month.

Quentin

Hi Quentin - nice site!

Just one thing though - you might what to check those buy buttons that say:
"Mobile Webiste" (instead of "Mobile Website")

I myself have just started in Building Mobile websites and i offer sms text messaging services. I Charge $39.99 a month plus $75.00 setup fee which i usually negotiate the setup fee to close the deal. I host the website on my reseller hosting. Its a month to month for them. They dont spend alot of money to get it going and no long term commitment. When they realize it works i become more valuable to them and can then become their go to guy for anything internet related.I always follow up and keep in touch. So far im closing sales to the tune of 3 to 4 a week.No one has really said NO yet!!

Restaurant owners can be converted and it's one of the hottest niches I am cracking at the moment. If you can't crack restaurant owners then I don't think you'll find it any easier with other industries... just being honest.

1. Face to face sales is definitely going to help so you have that going for you.

2. As someone else mentioned (and for all I know you probably are) focus on getting them more customers and more money rather than the mobile site itself. The mobile site is just a tool used to get them that extra money and business.

4. When it comes to pricing make sure you use different packages to help the customer see the value. If they have never heard of mobile websites before then there is no way for them to know whether or not the price you have quoted is good value or not. I suggest using a simple strategy as outlined in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ould-help.html

5. I would simplify your offer. Get rid of the mobile web app, custom splash screen, maybe even the QR code. Just keep the offer nice and simple. Sometimes less is more. You can turn away prospects by giving them too much to think about.

6. If a customer has Google Analytics installed on their website then you can actually show them the exact percentage of people arriving on their site via mobile devices. This should be enough to scare most restaurant owners into action. If they don't have it installed then offer to install it for free and show them after a few weeks how much mobile traffic they are potentially throwing away.

Restaurant owners can be converted and it's one of the hottest niches I am cracking at the moment. If you can't crack restaurant owners then I don't think you'll find it any easier with other industries... just being honest.

Hi Will, as I mentioned to Quentin, it was from both of you and your respective wso's that I learned quite a lot. I tip my hat to you both. You are filled with wisdom and experience, and I appreciate that.

I thought the same as you mention: restaurants should be prime for this. It fits them
like a glove. Unfortunately for me, such has not been the case. Maybe it's my area?
I know that sounds lame, but I get more negative reactions from my face to face demos
then I do positive reactions.

1. Face to face sales is definitely going to help so you have that going for you.

I agree. I believe this is something that really needs to be seen and experienced.

2. As someone else mentioned (and for all I know you probably are) focus on getting them more customers and more money rather than the mobile site itself. The mobile site is just a tool used to get them that extra money and business.

I agree. But again, the 'more customers' come from THEM promoting their mobile site properly. My problem, I think, is that they just can't see or understand how what I am offering them will bring in more business or customers. I can talk to them until I'm blue in the face, but then I start sounding like a 'fish oil salesman', and that's not my style.

If I had a simple 'do this and you'll get that' example, maybe I would have more success.

I read all of that Will. Thanks. In my area, I have not come across ONE site (assuming they even HAVE a site) that was flash oriented. If I did, I would've jumped on it immediately if not sooner.

4. When it comes to pricing make sure you use different packages to help the customer see the value. If they have never heard of mobile websites before then there is no way for them to know whether or not the price you have quoted is good value or not. I suggest using a simple strategy as outlined in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ould-help.html

Once again Will, I read that too. I pretty much read as much as I could here to educate myself to the fullest.

5. I would simplify your offer. Get rid of the mobile web app, custom splash screen, maybe even the QR code. Just keep the offer nice and simple. Sometimes less is more. You can turn away prospects by giving them too much to think about.

Who am I to argue that point? I thought those things might be what would or could close a deal. Some people like 'shiny rims' on their car.

But to me, the QR code IS the thing that could potentially get more people to their site. By making sure their QR is out there, whether in print or as stuffers in their orders, it's what would get people to their site in my mind. Am I wrong in thinking that?

6. If a customer has Google Analytics installed on their website then you can actually show them the exact percentage of people arriving on their site via mobile devices. This should be enough to scare most restaurant owners into action. If they don't have it installed then offer to install it for free and show them after a few weeks how much mobile traffic they are potentially throwing away.

Pardon me for chuckling to myself. Yeah, right. Google analytics. Most of the restaurants I talk to have no idea about that. When I mention to them that the sites I build DO have that installed, they don't seem to care, or think that's an important thing to have.

I hate to say that most of the restaurant owners I meet are 'rubes', but they're damn near close.

Restaurants ARE one of the hottest businesses to sell mobile sites to. You're either not targeting correctly or botching the sales presentation or both.

What I show local restaurants...

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Marketing is done on the backend via text messaging.

You've solved all their problems. They don't have to market the website. It markets itself via the table tents placed on every table. It answers the question of "what's in it for me?" because this is an obvious way that any business owner with half a brain would realize could be a money maker.

Restaurants ARE one of the hottest businesses to sell mobile sites to. You're either not targeting correctly or botching the sales presentation or both.

What I show local restaurants...

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Marketing is done on the backend via text messaging.

You've solved all their problems. They don't have to market the website. It markets itself via the table tents placed on every table. It answers the question of "what's in it for me?" because this is an obvious way that any business owner with half a brain would realize could be a money maker.

Plus this is a service you can sell for much, much more than $350.

Hey Jason, thanks for your input. I certainly appreciate what you brought to the table.

So what you're essentially saying is that mobile sites do not work well as a stand alone offering? That for restaurants mobile should combined with SMS?

That very well may be, but venturing into yet another service is not what I want to do at the moment.

I invested enough time and energy into designing mobile sites and would like to think they CAN be marketed as a stand alone offering. If I'm wrong, then my bad. But people such as Quentin and WillR say they are good enough.

As far as saying 'that any business owner with half a brain...', well that seems to be my proverbial wall. In my area those with just that aren't 'wowed' or see the ultimate benefits from having a mobile site.

I do agree, however, with your comment about my not targeting correctly. I'm going to start targeting restaurants with a different criteria in mind. I'll see how that goes.

Yeah you can sell mobile sites stand alone all day long. We do. It's just easier for us with restaurants to sell the service below and makes a lot more money.

Here's some tips to sell standalone mobile sites.

1) any local business who is advertising in google PPC that doesn't have a mobile friendly site - google gives you a negative quality score for this. These are people who are already TRYING to use an online medium to get more customers and failing at it. You show them how this easily improves their adwords marketing and they'll buy your mobile site.

2) Flash based websites - we find these work extremely well with attorneys but work well across the board. There are many ways to do google searches to find flash based websites in your local area.

3) Local advertisers who are using print media and inserting a QR code in their advertising. I scan every local QR code I can find because more often than that it takes the user to a MOBILE unfriendly site. Here is a business who somewhat understands and is already sold on the concept of mobile marketing but is doing it poorly.

More instructive than these tips is the thinking behind them. We try to target people who are already attempting and failing miserably to do what we can an offer a much better solution for than to target someone who is not even TRYING to do anything remotely close to the service you offer.

Originally Posted by mak25

Hey Jason, thanks for your input. I certainly appreciate what you brought to the table.

So what you're essentially saying is that mobile sites do not work well as a stand alone offering? That for restaurants mobile should combined with SMS?

That very well may be, but venturing into yet another service is not what I want to do at the moment.

I invested enough time and energy into designing mobile sites and would like to think they CAN be marketed as a stand alone offering. If I'm wrong, then my bad. But people such as Quentin and WillR say they are good enough.

As far as saying 'that any business owner with half a brain...', well that seems to be my proverbial wall. In my area those with just that aren't 'wowed' or see the ultimate benefits from having a mobile site.

I do agree, however, with your comment about my not targeting correctly. I'm going to start targeting restaurants with a different criteria in mind. I'll see how that goes.

Mike....in my years in the "Advertising & Marketing" biz I've tried to put together "Groups" of "Exclusive" advertisers and have placed "Sample-Ads" in the piece when I show potential advertisers.

By offering "Limited" spaces and only ONE advertiser in each business category I appeal to "competitive Juices"....and....I NEVER show a "Blank" program.

Example: Set up a "Mobile Site Directory" for your Town with ONE business in each Category! One Mexican...One Italian...One of each Food Category...for starters. Then...ONE Chiropractor...ONE Dentist...ONE Carpet Cleaner...ONE Plumber...ONE of every business, professional & medical category.

Then...make a few Sample Sites showing what you can do. Then...show them HOW you will attract consumers TO your "Mobile Site Directory".

Then...when you walk into a biz....you have POWER! A STRONG REASON WHY...your prospect NEEDS TO JOIN....NOW! Because if they don't, their competitor will get their spot!

Ex: When I walk into a restaurant and show the owner one of my TV Channel Guides that is PLACED IN LOCAL MOTEL ROOMS....easily found by Room Guests (who are LOOKING FOR Places to eat)....and how easy it is to FIND my Directory ON THEIR PHONE....and THEIR Restaurant can be the ONLY Chinese Restaurant in the Directory....they join!

Here's another example of a "Group" Directory;
A few years ago I put together a ""Glove Compartment ACCIDENT GUIDE".

A Booklet with HelpFul Info and places to write in info (Other parties Name, Address, Phone, Insurance Co...etc) and a Drawing of what happened AND....an Ad for a LAWYER, Tow Truck, Locksmith, Chiropractor... etc In fact....I got a WHOLE BUNCH of biznesses to buy an Ad in the Accident Guide.

And each one was given an EXCLUSIVE (The 1st 2 were Free)

And....guess how the "Guide" was distributed; Yup...via Insurance Agents (Free to them)

So...I recently helped someone set up a "Glove Compartment ACCIDENT GUIDE".... only...in the Ads was HOW to access a "Mobile Site Directory" ....WITH A CELL PHONE!

Again....only ONE in each Category! And....guess how many Tow Truck Operators or Lawyers or most any other category he had to call on....to fill each Category?

At the most....TWO!

If I were to walk into a Restaurant and try and sell the owner a "Mobile Site"....show him what one looks like, that I had created....he'd say, "Ohhh! That looks nice! Thanks for showing it to me! Leave me your card and I'll get back to ya!"

Yeah! Sure!

Mike....you've GOT to give prospects a "REASON" for Buying! Just because there are MILLYUNS being sold and you show all the Stats... SO WHAT? What do the stats mean to him?

Very Nice, Jason! I understand #2 about getting customers to subscribe but could you elaborate a little more an #1?

Thanks...

Originally Posted by Jason Fladlien

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Restaurants ARE one of the hottest businesses to sell mobile sites to. You're either not targeting correctly or botching the sales presentation or both.

What I show local restaurants...

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Marketing is done on the backend via text messaging.

You've solved all their problems. They don't have to market the website. It markets itself via the table tents placed on every table. It answers the question of "what's in it for me?" because this is an obvious way that any business owner with half a brain would realize could be a money maker.

Plus this is a service you can sell for much, much more than $350.

Jason,

Thanks for your comments in this thread. Very helpful to me at this point in time.

I'm focusing on QSR's at the moment. Your table tent idea is an excellent one. I'll expand on that and have bag stuffers made up for drive thru customers. Have your clients had any feedback from customers who don't have smart phones?

I'm also going to pitch an SMS service where the client will be able to send out texts at say 11AM with an offer for a special running that day until 2PM. I'll direct them to the mobile site for a coupon. Something that has me baffled a bit, though. How do customers redeem a mobile coupon? Is it as simple as the customer showing the server / cashier the coupon on their mobile device?

I can see that working well operationally, even in drive thru operations. But, from the operator's perspective, there wouldn't be any way to track these sales. Sure, there could be a button set up on the register to provide the discount, but there wouldn't be any way for them to validate the discounts given vs. how many people actually came in with a mobile coupon. Cashiers could simply give the discounts out to whomever they wanted to knowing there was no way to validate the figure.

I think the table tents / QR codes on bag stuffers / SMS service would be a great idea. As long as I can show them a way they can match up / validate the number of mobile coupons vs. the # of times the discount key is being used, I have no question this will be a winner.

Restaurants ARE one of the hottest businesses to sell mobile sites to. You're either not targeting correctly or botching the sales presentation or both.

What I show local restaurants...

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Marketing is done on the backend via text messaging.

You've solved all their problems. They don't have to market the website. It markets itself via the table tents placed on every table. It answers the question of "what's in it for me?" because this is an obvious way that any business owner with half a brain would realize could be a money maker.

Plus this is a service you can sell for much, much more than $350.

Jason,

Can you please post a picture of your table tent? Great suggestion by the way!

Restaurants ARE one of the hottest businesses to sell mobile sites to. You're either not targeting correctly or botching the sales presentation or both.

What I show local restaurants...

1) a mockup mobile site that captures PHONE leads for their customers with the optional birthday as well (people never eat alone on their birthday)

2) A mockup table tent with a QR code and a long code/shortcode that basically says "how'd you like to get 10% off this meal?". the hook is if you join the businesses's digital diner club you get an immediate 10% of your first meal.

Marketing is done on the backend via text messaging.

You've solved all their problems. They don't have to market the website. It markets itself via the table tents placed on every table. It answers the question of "what's in it for me?" because this is an obvious way that any business owner with half a brain would realize could be a money maker.

Plus this is a service you can sell for much, much more than $350.

Jason, excellent idea. Can you elaborate on your "digital diner club?" Is it an email opt in they must do to get the 10% off, or perhaps downloading a custom mobile app?

Seems that you may have exhausted every avenue so far, so maybe going about the business of building a optin list would be the best thing to do, after you build it to a lucrative size then revisit the establishments but this time go in at $80.00 per month and $250.00 for the site.

On another note, I recently did a main website for a client and threw in a mobile site for good measure, and am running Google analytics on both. After a few weeks, stats show that about 30% are accessing the site from mobile device. That's 3 out of 10 visitors and that will only increase over time I'm sure.

So there is definitely a reason to have a mobile site. But its like being in 1994 and trying to tell a biz owner he needs a website. Tough nut to crack, but eventually it will be commonplace.

I'm glad I came upon this post...I have been contemplating getting into offline marketing and providing this type of service. However, I have been very skeptical simply from the point of view that I know how difficult sales can be. I do not want to replace one job, with relative security, for another job with various stakeholders as my boss.

Getting a client is great, but the flip side of that is you also now have a "boss"...and business owners, in my experience, tend to be demanding sorts.

So, I've really hesitated getting into this entire arena....I dread having to make an appointment, fight through traffic, try to find the place...only to get..uhm..he isn't here right now, can you come back...

IMHO, sales, is not exactly glamorous...and if it is relationship selling, as seems to be the new buzzword, well, that is even worse because now you have a relationship to manage rather than a done and gone transaction.

I think I'll still try to build my knowledge base, but I'm going to stick my toe in gently...

I agree, that the ease of which to wrap up local clients in WSO after WSO is mostly hype. What I really think is funny is the WF member who puts out WSO after WSO touting their successes. If they were making so much money from offline, why would they spend time putting together a 7 dollar WSO.

From my experience, getting through to offline biz owners is not a walk in the park at all. One would think that business owners would be the open minded ones and constantly looking for new ways to increase business, but many are just so stuck in their ways that its impossible to get through to them at all. Sometimes I wonder how most of them stay in business in the first place.

Note: This post is NOT directed at the OP or the Warrior quoted above. Just a general observation.

I agree with you completely BUT I might also add, this is NOT suppose to be a walk in the park, otherwise everyone else would be doing it. I'm not sure why everyone seems to think they can go and approach 10 business owners and expect half of them to give them their money.

Sales is sales.

You go and door knock random houses and you will get the same response rate. You go and cold call a ton of random people and you will get the same response rate. You go and direct mail a bunch of houses and you will get the same response rate. You launch a product online and you will get the same sort of response rate. Out of every x amount of people you contact only a small number are going to buy from you. It's just life. But people continue to make big money from products online, cold calling, direct mail, etc because they are smart and realize that it's just a numbers game. The more people you ask the more rejections you will get... yes... but the more people you will get who say "YES!".

You can definitely increase your response rate by targeting the right people and presenting your offer in the right way but it's something you learn.

Sales is NOT made for everyone. There's seems to be this attitude that because not every business owner jumps at your offer that 'sales' does not work or the method is a load of crap.

It's not the case.

The fact is there are far too many people thinking they have some god given right to make money at the drop of a hat without doing any hard work. I will only speak for myself but the only people I know who make big money are those that work hard. The harder you work the more money you make. It's no secret and online or offline marketing is no different. It takes action and persistence. If you don't have both of them you will never succeed.

As for the guys who launch WSO's every 3 or 4 weeks touting their latest success story, I do have to agree with you there. I can see through most of these guys from a mile away. I won't mention any names but there is one product that keeps launching an offline course every month and they keep saying "this is by far the best one yet..." and they say it every time. Seriously guys, we know you are not making a dime from the methods you are teaching, they wouldn't have the time. But so long as people continue to buy they will continue to sell.

I started another thread on the lines of this, called "What's wrong with them?" - I should have read this thread first. But a few comments on this thread:

Originally Posted by xichabodx

As far as niches, I'd target those that deal in emergency situations. You listed locksmiths, and I would venture to say towing companies would be another niche to target. Unless you're carrying your laptop around and you find yourself locked out of your house or stranded on the side of the road, your mobile phone (if it's equipped with a web browser) is your only source of research and possible solution.

I emailed (probably a mistake!) every tow truck operator in Canberra, and pointed out that very thing. Result - not one reply.

Originally Posted by BizWebMan

Hi Mike

To give you some kind of an idea of the complacency out there, I have offered all my current clients a free mobile site to compliment their main site that I look after for a monthly fee. All of them have their own businesses and despite my explanatory emails describing the virtues of mobile sites they are just not excited by it. I am giving them good quality mobile sites FOR FREE.

Grahame

As I said in my own thread, I also tried giving them away, as per "The Bower formula"
Result - not one taker.

Originally Posted by Quentin

Hi Mike

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

6. I do a small ad in local papers

Quentin

Quentin, that makes me feel a bit better - if someone like you tried 30 ways, my 10 ways seems somewhat meagre.I'll keep trying. I tried the ad in local paper - $345 for not one reply.

Originally Posted by xlfutur1

What kills me is the same business owner that spends hundreds (or thousands) per month in Yellow Pages ads, will say NO to a free mobile site and a small hosting fee..

Like you, I cannot understand this either.

My next venture is good old Don Alm's idea of an exclusive directory - Don can always be relied on for some straightforward common sense ideas.

By the way, I heard a great quote from Ian Chappell today - "the trouble with common sense is that it's not very common." (Perhaps only Will and Quentin will know who Ian Chappell is.)

this video is Amazing! It has transformed my thinking. Thank you so much for posting it.

You're very welcome. It's helped me a lot. I use to teach social dance for 11 years and did it for the "why" and that's why I did so well. I forgot about that at first when selling mobile sites and then I ran into Simon Sinek. He's help put me back on track.

What I have been doing lately is shooting Jing videos and showing them their site on the iphone tester site and I find a competitor' site and show them theres. I also show them the monthly searches per the Google KW tool. I have been getting people that respond (my problem is my follow-up) and am hoping to close a few soon.

I have a client that I am trying to convince (his actual business gets around 250 mobile searches/mo) and he still does not see the value.

I search 10/15 restaurants/bars, dinners
I go for the businesses that advertise online/offline first but if i have had then all i will go after all the others to.

Then i create the websites, i have a system in place where i easily change the colors to the color of the original website and ad the logo of the business, the pages are already there and i don't change that, i have a menu page, wine-page, Google maps with address info, contact page, business hours page and about us page

When i am done i take a screenshot of how their site look in a iPhone emulator and i take a screenshot of the new mobile site, i put them together on a postcard with a good headline and a personalized URL to a landing-page with a video, where i explain all of the benefits of this mobile website...

I show them the Google keyword tool.. i show them a report by the government planning agency telling that mobile internet is exploding, i show them articles from newspapers and i tell them how they will get more clients into their establishment, that is really important

I also have a live demo of their mobile site on the landing-page that they can play around with....

Then i sent these postcards out, most of the time i get about 2/3 calls right away and i always sell them, if they call i know they will buy because i have taken away all the barriers even before speaking to them... (i belief it's cold pre-selling) and after 24/48 hours i follow up with a call or a email and often i sell about 2 more, so out of the 15 i create, i sell about 4/5 mobile sites on average.

I hope you get what i am trying to say, as you can see English is not my fist language, if you have any questions let me know

I search 10/15 restaurants/bars, dinners
I go for the businesses that advertise online/offline first but if i have had then all i will go after all the others to.

Then i create the websites, i have a system in place where i easily change the colors to the color of the original website and ad the logo of the business, the pages are already there and i don't change that, i have a menu page, wine-page, Google maps with address info, contact page, business hours page and about us page

When i am done i take a screenshot of how their site look in a iPhone emulator and i take a screenshot of the new mobile site, i put them together on a postcard with a good headline and a personalized URL to a landing-page with a video, where i explain all of the benefits of this mobile website...

I show them the Google keyword tool.. i show them a report by the government planning agency telling that mobile internet is exploding, i show them articles from newspapers and i tell them how they will get more clients into their establishment, that is really important

I also have a live demo of their mobile site on the landing-page that they can play around with....

Then i sent these postcards out, most of the time i get about 2/3 calls right away and i always sell them, if they call i know they will buy because i have taken away all the barriers even before speaking to them... (i belief it's cold pre-selling) and after 24/48 hours i follow up with a call or a email and often i sell about 2 more, so out of the 15 i create, i sell about 4/5 mobile sites on average.

I hope you get what i am trying to say, as you can see English is not my fist language, if you have any questions let me know

I search 10/15 restaurants/bars, dinners
I go for the businesses that advertise online/offline first but if i have had then all i will go after all the others to.

Then i create the websites, i have a system in place where i easily change the colors to the color of the original website and ad the logo of the business, the pages are already there and i don't change that, i have a menu page, wine-page, Google maps with address info, contact page, business hours page and about us page

When i am done i take a screenshot of how their site look in a iPhone emulator and i take a screenshot of the new mobile site, i put them together on a postcard with a good headline and a personalized URL to a landing-page with a video, where i explain all of the benefits of this mobile website...

I show them the Google keyword tool.. i show them a report by the government planning agency telling that mobile internet is exploding, i show them articles from newspapers and i tell them how they will get more clients into their establishment, that is really important

I also have a live demo of their mobile site on the landing-page that they can play around with....

Then i sent these postcards out, most of the time i get about 2/3 calls right away and i always sell them, if they call i know they will buy because i have taken away all the barriers even before speaking to them... (i belief it's cold pre-selling) and after 24/48 hours i follow up with a call or a email and often i sell about 2 more, so out of the 15 i create, i sell about 4/5 mobile sites on average.

I hope you get what i am trying to say, as you can see English is not my fist language, if you have any questions let me know

Dave

Dave,

Thank you so much for your input and for sharing your postcard marketing method. It sounds excellent and is something I'm now running tests on in my business.

If you don't mind me asking... How much do you charge your clients per mobile website that you create?

I search 10/15 restaurants/bars, dinners
I go for the businesses that advertise online/offline first but if i have had then all i will go after all the others to.

Then i create the websites, i have a system in place where i easily change the colors to the color of the original website and ad the logo of the business, the pages are already there and i don't change that, i have a menu page, wine-page, Google maps with address info, contact page, business hours page and about us page

When i am done i take a screenshot of how their site look in a iPhone emulator and i take a screenshot of the new mobile site, i put them together on a postcard with a good headline and a personalized URL to a landing-page with a video, where i explain all of the benefits of this mobile website...

I show them the Google keyword tool.. i show them a report by the government planning agency telling that mobile internet is exploding, i show them articles from newspapers and i tell them how they will get more clients into their establishment, that is really important

I also have a live demo of their mobile site on the landing-page that they can play around with....

Then i sent these postcards out, most of the time i get about 2/3 calls right away and i always sell them, if they call i know they will buy because i have taken away all the barriers even before speaking to them... (i belief it's cold pre-selling) and after 24/48 hours i follow up with a call or a email and often i sell about 2 more, so out of the 15 i create, i sell about 4/5 mobile sites on average.

I hope you get what i am trying to say, as you can see English is not my fist language, if you have any questions let me know

Dave

This is GREAT Dave thanks for sharing. Who do you address the postcard to? Do you research who the decision maker is and then address it to them?

Hi Dave,
I like Your approach as it takes the pressure out of it.
Have seen similar stuff with SEO. Kind of.

Anyway, I could use it on top of the mobile crusher system I use.
Because giving away a very basic one page website and THEN upselling is a good intention of the system. But the upsell like SMS campaign, emailmakreting, etc. again not everybody might be able to use (or at leasts wants to use).
But selling a more advanced mobile webpage is a thing any company could buy.

Hi Dave,
I like Your approach as it takes the pressure out of it.
Have seen similar stuff with SEO. Kind of.
Andre (Germany)

That is right, you show the prospect you mean business and you're not some flyby clown who is after a quick paycheck. people don't know you so why should they trust you, that is why i never get why people are doing cold calls, because i certainly can't get someone that doesn't know me to trust me and pay me $XXXX for something they don't know anything about... that is why i came up with the postcards

Originally Posted by Garth L

Dave,

Thank you so much for your input and for sharing your postcard marketing method. It sounds excellent and is something I'm now running tests on in my business.

If you don't mind me asking... How much do you charge your clients per mobile website that you create?

Thanks,

Garth L.

I give them three prizes on the low end, because i use mobile websites to get my foot in the door for other services i have, like fanpages and Google places.. and for those services i ask top euro's. i make my real money in the back-end and that is why i offer these sites for a very low price (but not for free, because i think it is bull**** to work for free, i rather delete them, then give them away... its a Dutch thing i guess )

plan a is €99-
plan b is €149-
plan C is €325-

Originally Posted by Ideology

This is GREAT Dave thanks for sharing. Who do you address the postcard to? Do you research who the decision maker is and then address it to them?

There is a facebook app for it that does this it is called heyhello, the cards look great but it is kinda expensive

Okay boys and girls, it's about time I put this thread to sleep. Permanantly.

I started this thread over a year ago, check the dates people, and a lot has happened since then.

First and foremost, my business is doing very well. I may have started this thread with a negative and pissed-off mindset, but oh well, that's how it was.

Today, I am only working with those who fit MY criteria. Not theirs.
With the package I offer, I can bring their marketing and customer aquisition current and up-to-date. And make them more money by selling to mobile users.

It was a real job learning how backward and stupid a lot of these owners are. Even now. They still act and think like it's 1980. Many still don't get it. No prob. There are too many that do.

Anyway, before I leave this thread for good, I have a couple things I want to get off my chest after reading some of the replies here:

1- For those who offered some thoughtful and constructive criticism and advice, I thank you. And thank you for those who have read every post of this thread.

2- For those of you morons and a$$holes who insulted me, and offered below the belt comments, go to hell and stay there. You helped nobody with your pithy and useless posts.

If anyone out there is prospecting and selling mobile solutions to take-out restaurants, hang in there. It will get better as time goes by.

I read most of the thread however not completely yet as it is so long so if this is something that has already been highlighted I apologize... If not, I hope it helps.

We found that business owners are much more inclined to sign-up and part with monies if you are leaving something they can "touch and feel" in return other than just the promise of listing someone on a magical directory or creating some magical mobile website which they cannot see how anyone will get to once you walk out the door. Giving a tangible/physical item that attracts attention makes a world of difference and some smaller Restaurant owners and staff love explaining QR codes to their customers once they get it too they think its magic and love telling people about them so it creates a talking point and when they get a response back from impressed customers about what a good idea it is they BUY-IN even deeper... so even if your directory or site is not performing they love it!!

Some of WillR's products have some great QR display stands and there are some other templates for use in restaurants and takeaways here for Table Tents, Cards and Window Stickers. Think back to the old (dare i say it) Yell "find us on" window stickers.... they used the same tactic http://goo.gl/zhnpK

By them receiving these tangible/physical table cards/Window Stickers they can see people scanning it and talking about it in their establishments and justify their spend in their own mind which is important if you want to sign up and keep monthly subscriptions running.

In the main the comments about highlighting the benefits and how it can add value to a business rather than selling the mobile site or directory itself are absolutely correct, no business wants to know about a mobile site they want to know everything about attracting and getting more sales period!

I hope this information is helpful, it has certainly benefited many others in this niche.

Today, I am only working with those who fit MY criteria. Not theirs.
With the package I offer, I can bring their marketing and customer aquisition current and up-to-date. And make them more money by selling to mobile users.

It was a real job learning how backward and stupid a lot of these owners are. Even now. They still act and think like it's 1980. Many still don't get it. No prob. There are too many that do.

If anyone out there is prospecting and selling mobile solutions to take-out restaurants, hang in there. It will get better as time goes by.

So in other words if they do not know anything about mobile beforehand, you will not take the time to educate them?

Okay boys and girls, it's about time I put this thread to sleep. Permanantly.

I started this thread over a year ago, check the dates people, and a lot has happened since then.

First and foremost, my business is doing very well. I may have started this thread with a negative and pissed-off mindset, but oh well, that's how it was.

Today, I am only working with those who fit MY criteria. Not theirs.
With the package I offer, I can bring their marketing and customer aquisition current and up-to-date. And make them more money by selling to mobile users.

It was a real job learning how backward and stupid a lot of these owners are. Even now. They still act and think like it's 1980. Many still don't get it. No prob. There are too many that do.

Anyway, before I leave this thread for good, I have a couple things I want to get off my chest after reading some of the replies here:

1- For those who offered some thoughtful and constructive criticism and advice, I thank you. And thank you for those who have read every post of this thread.

2- For those of you morons and a$ who insulted me, and offered below the belt comments, go to hell and stay there. You helped nobody with your pithy and useless posts.

If anyone out there is prospecting and selling mobile solutions to take-out restaurants, hang in there. It will get better as time goes by.

Keep the faith baby. I did.

*poof*

I'm 'following' this thread from the beginning (like some 28 other interesting threads). The most important thing I read from you is working with clients who fit YOUR criteria.

My business is just a little older than one year and I already said NO to two clients that (one for a website and one for social media marketing). I just got NO energy from them and they thought the knew everything about the internet.. I want to build a long term relationship with my clients... Even when I needed the money I said that my company was not the best fit for them... To this day my business is going well (can always be better but I'm hanging in there so .. )

Okay boys and girls, it's about time I put this thread to sleep. Permanantly.

I started this thread over a year ago, check the dates people, and a lot has happened since then.

First and foremost, my business is doing very well. I may have started this thread with a negative and pissed-off mindset, but oh well, that's how it was.

Today, I am only working with those who fit MY criteria. Not theirs.
With the package I offer, I can bring their marketing and customer aquisition current and up-to-date. And make them more money by selling to mobile users.

It was a real job learning how backward and stupid a lot of these owners are. Even now. They still act and think like it's 1980. Many still don't get it. No prob. There are too many that do.

Anyway, before I leave this thread for good, I have a couple things I want to get off my chest after reading some of the replies here:

1- For those who offered some thoughtful and constructive criticism and advice, I thank you. And thank you for those who have read every post of this thread.

2- For those of you morons and a$ who insulted me, and offered below the belt comments, go to hell and stay there. You helped nobody with your pithy and useless posts.

If anyone out there is prospecting and selling mobile solutions to take-out restaurants, hang in there. It will get better as time goes by.

Keep the faith baby. I did.

*poof*

I'm glad you are doing well and never gave up.

One of the biggest issues people have is identifying their problems/barriers then figuring out solutions to over come them. You identified a huge problem in your 1st post, that you're in an area with small towns and businesses stuck in the old ways of doing things. The solution is to drive out of that rural area to the fast-paced big city where there is more competition between businesses. Show a mock-up of how their competitor is using mobile and have been "stealing" their customers to build their business. If you had to drive 1-2 hours to get to where the sales are easier, it's worth it.

Another problem is that people have to also be able to look within themselves to see if anything needs to change with them. Your problem seems to be a lack of patience for people who don't have common sense. You have to realize common sense is not common. You have to either adjust to communicate with them or seek out and only sale to a smaller piece of the pie. It looks like you chose the latter, hence why you are now successful.

Mike,
First of all be grateful that some of those sales didn't close. Having clients that don't value your service is a lose lose proposition and will make your life miserable.

Also be grateful that you have heard their objections. Now think about the business savvy restaurant owner versus those you spoke with.

Pick the restaurants that are advertising. They at least have a clue.

My first paid mobile client told me the Coupon Mailer gave her a better return than her mobile site and Text Club Table Tents.

Actually, the table tents were still in the back room of the restaurant and they had not even ok'd the mobile content. So of course there was no return. People can' t text them if they can't see the number inside the Kinkos bag.

Then she said she wanted to put the mobile thing on hold - I was actually estatic!!!
Mind you, they paid me and are putting this on hold with table tents sitting in the back room instead of using the QR codes and text codes on their advertising as advised. No subscribers.

Now contrast that with another paid client, ready from day one. Adding QR codes to everything, building their text list, you name it.

I am so glad that I had the experience of 2 totally different restaurant owners about 3 streets apart.
Both were cold walk-ins and totally different responses from beginning to end.

Just think of this as your time to get paid to learn. And don't quit.

I have found that having mockups to show for mobiles and doing SMS/ Text Marketing demos with owners has helped them get the connection and closed the sale.

At the end of the day ladies and gents its just another expense. If you can not prove the value of what your selling. You can not show the client why they need this not the business but "them" Then you might as well not even bother showing up.

Thanks so much for starting this thread, as I'm about to start in mobile and having got a few WSO's, I wasn't sure where to start - actually, it was going to be restaurants! I really appreciate you sharing your experiences and I thank everyone for their great ideas and contributions, which I've found very helpful.

I'm sorry I can't make much of a contribution at this time, but I do want to thank you. Perhaps I can say that I've had good success with video (Camtasia & Jing) in other market areas and I'm thinking of offering video to compliment mobile. Something like a short personal intro from the business owner - like a quick interview. People do love the personal touch. Thanks again and best wishes.

are you selling them the QR code+mobile site combination? Or are you showing them the ROI or increased traffic or other "tangible" benefits? Restaurant owners are very low-tech (barely checking email), and while the mobile site looks cool, you have to help them make that mental leap from "cool mobile site" to ROI and how this is going to make them more money.

a few points from that thread discussion:
"We've seen ROI [mobile marketing] as high as $32 for every $1 spent, and we've seen text offers on slow nights represent as much as 41% of net revenue in one evening."

This is the info that lights up business owners.

You asked:
>> Your question about why will it bring them business? And how many customers a month it
will bring them? How can anyone REALLY answer that?

of course! Just look at any site's Google Analytics for mobile devices, and its clear that over 20% of visitors are using mobile devices. ALL of them are likely to click the back button (unless they are really desperate) if the site is not mobile-friendly, and according to google, the visitor engagement increases by 85% if the site is mobile-friendly.

Also, there needs to be a specific strategy.. Scanning a QR code just to go to a mobile site may not be enough.. Scanning a QR code to fill out a mobile form to join the club is something. Scanning a QR code to fill out a mobile feedback form and/or leave a review on their Google Place is better (drives their "google map" rankings).

Also, sell them mobile apps, not sites. Most small business owners understand "apps", but not mobile sites. A mobile site is a hybrid mobile app (can be saved on the phone's home screen, etc).

Depending on where you live, some have areas where 3G or 4G are not popular so sure business owners will not be interested.

The only effective way to get clients it's a demo, bring your mobile phone with you, and show them their site not optimized, then talk about mobile stats....
If they don't have a website I do suggest a website design price quote and give them the mobile site free as bonus.

Originally, I planned on targetting restaurants for the same reasons everyone does - THEY can BENEFIT greatly from it. (Hell, EVERY TIME, I want to eat out - I pull out my cell phone and type "food" in map app. Only restaurants with a red pin are considered and only those with a mobile site that I can check menu items are selected...)

Anyway... I used to work for a couple different restaurants and found that low margin argument to be true when I asked myself if my boss would buy from me.

So, TRY this on for size and see if it works for you.

I went to Craigslist and made an ad for some young folks (which I, too, am 26) to contact me. I don't drink and don't know much of anything about the bar and night club scene.... but I figured most 18-25 yr olds do.

Turns out, these bars and clubs are HOT in my area. They are buying mobile sites like wildfire.

$197 setup with an annual hosting contract which includes domain ($29/mo) billed monthly.
Includes a listing for google places, if they don't already have one.

I went to Craigslist and made an ad for some young folks (which I, too, am 26) to contact me. I don't drink and don't know much of anything about the bar and night club scene.... but I figured most 18-25 yr olds do.

Did you post the ad to get advice on what's hot, or to have the 18-25 yr olds do something for you?

Do they work if you're old, ugly and have bad teeth? I ask this question because I believe these things are holding me back.

Of course it work what matter person you are, the best thing is nice presentation, credibility and good marketing knowledges. I'm none of you describe but I know that young beautiful woman have also similar effects than for old ugly.... because who can trust on a top model like selling mobile website? But if she do have credibility and marketing knowledges I say YES!

Of course it work what matter person you are, the best thing is nice presentation, credibility and good marketing knowledges. I'm none of you describe but I know that young beautiful woman have also similar effects than for old ugly.... because who can trust on a top model like selling mobile website? But if she do have credibility and marketing knowledges I say YES!

Thank you for your kind response and positive input. I feel more motivated than ever (that dentist visit can wait) - Me love you long time.

I'm not working with offline clients, but I want to present my theoretical approach and to summarize all tips discussed earlier.

mak25 you wrote:

I can only give them the venue to bring in more customers. If they don't promote
their site, or make sure their customers and potential customers know about their mobile site,
that's on them, not me.
The questions you ask are sound, I have no idea how many customers it could bring in.
That's so abstract. There's so many factors that THEY have control of to make it
worthwhile and profitable for them.

IMO that's your main Problem! If your clients have no idea why the need a mobile website or what mobile promotion/marketing is (some of them don't even know about websites), how do they can make ROI if they pay you 350$ and have no clue what to do after they give you the money?

It's not about hot or not, it's about to solve the problem to the end. That means don't let your clients down.

Instead make packages/offers with marketing/seo/coupon creation/... support. It would be great if someone could post an example with prices.

Make a split test with different methods.

I think the best way to start is to speak to clients who are on the same level with you. It means: client who already has a website and try to market his business but do it wrong or just not enough.

You can find this type of clients on groupon.com You can contact them and offer to buy your mobile site AND your HELP to promote their business. Tell them that you also offer a research report "5 big mistakes you should avoid promoting your business on groupon" (you can find the info yourself or hire a copywriter) [Don't say it's free, it's in the price!]
Or offer other research reports. I'm sure you can find a lot Mobile-PLRs.

You can also offer as bonus Video creation or other services and outsource them.

I'm not 60 years old and I don't have big experience in sales. But I was in this "niche" and I figured out that you can't use the same techniques for every niche (no-ever-green-method).

If you try different things and tips in this thread, than you will definitely close a deal.

I no longer agree with this. It was fine half a year ago but now everyone is using Groupon as a lead source so I would go elsewhere. Using Groupon now to find leads is a bit like going to the first page of Google to find leads - you will be competing with a whole bunch of other offline marketers who have already contacted that lead. You want to go where others are not. Drill down to the 6th, 7th, 8th page of Google. Look for smaller and less popular coupon type sites in your neighborhood. These sites are still going to have clients who are looking for more customers and sales but you will be competing with far less people to get their business.

I no longer agree with this. It was fine half a year ago but now everyone is using Groupon as a lead source so I would go elsewhere. Using Groupon now to find leads is a bit like going to the first page of Google to find leads - you will be competing with a whole bunch of other offline marketers who have already contacted that lead. You want to go where others are not. Drill down to the 6th, 7th, 8th page of Google. Look for smaller and less popular coupon type sites in your neighborhood. These sites are still going to have clients who are looking for more customers and sales but you will be competing with far less people to get their business.

Hey cool post man. I've been selling mobile sites to local small biz and yeah it is a tough sell sometimes for sure.

This is what has worked for me though...I will set up a demo site ...mobile ready...and put it on a subdomain that I have and will actually walk into the store and demo it for the owner.

So you first show the owner how crappy his site looks on your smartphone when you pull it up...having to scroll around...can't read anything etc...point out all the negatives...

Then show him your demo-mobile optimized site and how good it looks on your phone. The show him how easy it is to click on buttons to navigate around etc.

After that, if they don't see the value or understand the importance of having a mobile optimized site...then move on to the next one. Price shouldn't be the obstacle.

You also want to talk about getting them more clients....how people search local on their smart phones...and how to utilize QR codes for coupons and how owners can send push notifications ( this is where having an app comes in) and tell them they NEED to get with the times and the trends or be left in the cold.

You have to make the presentation like you're talking to a buddy....not selling...but showing the owner that they need to get on-board with optimizing their site for smart phones.

Great ideas, but these apply only WHEN you actually reach the owner! What do you do to get past the gatekeepers? That would be a WSO that would sell!!

Thx

Originally Posted by tylerjaysen

Hey cool post man. I've been selling mobile sites to local small biz and yeah it is a tough sell sometimes for sure.

This is what has worked for me though...I will set up a demo site ...mobile ready...and put it on a subdomain that I have and will actually walk into the store and demo it for the owner.

So you first show the owner how crappy his site looks on your smartphone when you pull it up...having to scroll around...can't read anything etc...point out all the negatives...

Then show him your demo-mobile optimized site and how good it looks on your phone. The show him how easy it is to click on buttons to navigate around etc.

After that, if they don't see the value or understand the importance of having a mobile optimized site...then move on to the next one. Price shouldn't be the obstacle.

You also want to talk about getting them more clients....how people search local on their smart phones...and how to utilize QR codes for coupons and how owners can send push notifications ( this is where having an app comes in) and tell them they NEED to get with the times and the trends or be left in the cold.

You have to make the presentation like you're talking to a buddy....not selling...but showing the owner that they need to get on-board with optimizing their site for smart phones.

Why not hire a pretty lady to get the deals done with business owners. Look sex sells your ugly mug is not attractive to male business owners. Your selling the wrong way, hire a sexy lady train her about sms how the business owner should be targeting every customer by providing a discount by joining there vip sms discount club. Once you do that for 12 months, do the math and explain how it works even if they only sign up 10 people a day 10 x 7= 70 people per week. 70 x 4weeks in a month = 280 a month X 12 month= 3,360 customers on his sms list after a year. People will move, leave the list or whatever, but keep building the list. Now if he could send a message with a click of a button to 3,360 with a 95% read rate of the text message,what do you think his response rate would be. If direct mail has 1 or 2% response rate then i think he should get at least 15% every time he sends a message out. Now if the business owner does not have a boner yet after telling him that, then this guy is thinking with his wrong head. Now lets calculate 15% X 3,360 = 504. So if he could get 504 people in that week offering a special discount all they would have to do is show the discount code or coupon in their phone to the waitress to get the discount, no printing required or no forgetting coupon unless you did not bring your cell phone, instead of his employees picking there nose most of there shift, maybe they can be busy working and lets calculate his profits. 504 X 20$ avg meal ticket = 10,080 extra which he would have never gotten that week. So if you can explain i can increase your revenue by 10,080 every week next year are u willing to listen to me. Forget about selling 300 website sell them how your going to bring in extra money big time. Tell them you only pay me 100 a month for me to create and maintain the list and a % of profits you make off the marketing i do. First time you send of the sms he gets flooded for that week and makes good money, ask him to show you the sales for that week. If he says he did bad, say ok not problem i will delete the list and you go on your way, but if he does really good you have him by the nuts so you hold the bargaining chip. He will negotiate 10% to 25% of profits because he was not doing that before your were there. Once he has a big list tell him i can make more money buy using the list you have in your sms datebase by joint venturing with a non competing business. That's where the big money is making the list and using it to make a an offer to another business and you take % of the profits. its called joint venturing.

This is one thing you will use out of this post the most important thing you will ever tell a business owner.
What business owners don't know is that if they increase there repeat business by 5% they will increase there profits by 35%.

Ok, so you don't feel your target community is too forward thinking with their marketing and you feel like you're banging your head against a wall as no one is buying into your product.

Go back to basics ..... research your market. Is there not one food establishment with an optimized mobile site in your area?

If there isn't, change niche as your market isn't ready yet.

Other niches have been suggested, research those by checking for mobile sites.
Once you have found a niche with one, you have your market.
If you're unsure of the benefits of that particular niche having a mobile site, back to basics again ...... call or visit them and let them tell you!!

Now I don't know your area at all so don't know what the catchment area for particular businesses are, but mobile searches for italian, chinese, indian, mexican and even vegetarian restaurants in south jersey do show searches (18% of mexican restaurants in south jersey searches are on mobile devices!!).

Let's say you do find a restaurant with a mobile site. Use it thoroughly, noting down how you would improve it and ask yourself honestly if you can better it (very important). You can .... great.

Next, prepare your numbers (more a simple maths formula). As an example, mexican restaurants in south jersey came up with 58 mobile searches.

So your formula looks something like this:

monthly searches x % that convert x avg. bill

Pitch along these lines:

Demo the restaurant with the mobile site first and then demonstrate and compare how theirs appears on a mobile, tell them straight up that the user will click back straight off their page as soon as they see it involves scrolling. No need to mention the name of the other establishment. They will have noticed.

Run through various scenarios of your formula having determined the avg bill from the owner/manager. Let's say the avg bill is $60. Not per head but per table. Very likely to be higher.

Do the figures for three percentages (e.g 100%, 35% and 10%). Focus on the fact that, at the moment, all this business will more than likely go to the mobile optimized site. In short, show them the numbers they are potentially missing out on. Start with the maximum figure but focus more on the most realistic figure. Sell the pain in cash of not buying from you, not the product.

You may get asked whether the other site is your own work. Here's your chance to point out the flaws and increase your value by convincing them that their site will be better (goes without saying that it had better be!!!)

**Note to the OP**
- with all your experience in sales I'm not patronising you with this
all of it you know already, most of the message is for hopefully someone's benefit that's looking for a pitching style. To you, it's just a reminder to go back to basics.

- would however, follow the advice of those saying to keep it simple just offer a mobile site without qr codes etc.

The sellers of mobile marketing programs are always going to hype it up to make it seem as if the product/service is in extremely high demand. I'm sure that with the right presentation and the right approach, you could sell most people that are already familiar with the web and how it may affect their businesses. Other than that, you should never judge a market's "temperature" based on what the product seller says.

This is not hype. Someone's inability to sell does NOT equate to a product not being needed. It equates to a poor salesman or a client who refuses to see the potential of that service. Mobile is here and it's here to stay. There's plenty of third party data and figures to back that up. Very soon there will be more people using mobile phones than desktop computers.

To think mobile websites are not essential to the future online success of business is a HUGE oversight. The fact that every business needs to think about creating a mobile optimized web presence and that only around 5% of all domains registered currently have a mobile optimized version, means there is a HUGE market out there for this service. You can call it hype, I call it reality.

It's always going to take a little extra work when you are selling something that is relatively new and unknown to most. But if you would rather wait around until mobile websites are mainstream and every business already has one then you may as well get back to your day job asap.

Mobile marketing isn't some sort of fad that will be here today and gone tomorrow. It's the way marketers will be able to reach their target groups who are no longer sitting ducks. Your market is on the move. And so to are the customers of the business owners who you are targeting.

Going forward into the future, if a business want's to reach their target group they will have to tailor their message to device in which their market is using at that moment. As we speak smartphones are that device that is always on and with customers. Behind that are tablets. And soon you'll see watches start to come along with data enriched features.

So as I like to tell my clients, mobile doesn't just mean cell phones...it's means catching your target market who is now on the go.....and presenting your offer wherever they are, using whatever device they are carrying with them.

Thanks for typing a whole bunch of nothing, especially on the assumption that I said something which I didn't. I said that he shouldn't let WSO sellers overhype the need for this service. Re-read what I said and rethink your response.

Maybe Will isn't the one who needs to rethink his post. You're apparently mad because some of the stuff he said wasn't a direct response to your words.

Quoting a post doesn't mean you can't extrapolate a little to support your point, which is what he did. It wasn't all about you, but it was on point. I guess it has to all be about you.

Ironically, while objecting to him responding "on the assumption that I said something which I didn't", you actually misrepresented your own post, as saying something which you didn't. You didn't say someone "shouldn't let WSO sellers overhype the need for this service".

What you actually said in the first sentence, is "The sellers of mobile marketing programs are always going to hype it up to make it seemas if the product/service is in extremely high demand." That statement only makes sense if the sites really aren't in high demand.

So you're accusing him and other mobile marketers of dishonesty (which "hype" is), while asserting that mobile sites aren't really in high demand.

Yeah something like that, you have to do your testing of course, i always test in batches of 50 and i am not at the point that they are almost perfect lol.... i use 10cm x 15cm cards, i have tried bigger cards but i haven't seen any difference between them (except the cost)

But you have to test them for yourself because i life in Holland and that is different than the US, way different

I thought of this thread just now as I was reading this short Jay Abraham report:

JAY ABRAHAM 101
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE JAY ABRAHAM PHILOSOPHY
AND STRATEGIES FOR CREATING GREATER SUCCESS, INCOME AND WEALTH

On page 2, I found that, under market drivers, his first subheading was "Strategy", and all he wrote under it was: "Change of strategy is the fastest, easiest, most powerful way to change your results."

That might sound simple and obvious, but do not make the mistake of taking a dismissive attitude toward it because of that-sure it's simple, but nevertheless profound.

If your current strategy is yielding frustratingly lackluster results, it's time to brainstorm a new one, or at least a shift-and the most useful posts in this thread can jump-start that process.

When reading threads like this, I often ask myself "which posts would Jay Abraham find most worthwhile, and most strategic"?

There have been several that really interested me as I read them the other day. The one that still stands out most for me is #53, by Dave Zegers, aka Yellowgreenmedia; the combination of before/after screenshot postcards, with personalized URLs the postcard directs the prospect to.

Often the brilliance of Abraham type ideas, is simply putting a couple of elements together in ways others haven't thought of, are too lazy to do, or for whatever reason, have generally overlooked.

I think Dave has done that in the particular combination of mediums he used to create a strong impression (not saying nobody else has-but Dave gets credit for introducing it to me, and to the thread).

Of course he could be making up his results, but even so, the idea seems to have merit, just because it makes sense. Obviously, only testing will tell.

When what we're doing isn't working, most of us often either get discouraged and give up, or get bull-headed, and try the same thing even harder. But there's a third choice that makes a lot more sense from an Abraham inspired viewpoint: change strategies, as the quote suggests.

Several excellent posts point the way to do just that, and Dave's happens to have stuck out in my mind, as one I can imagine winning the Abraham seal of approval.

Not too long ago I thought I'd try an experiment. On speculation, I built a complete custom website for a restaurant, with all the bells and whistles. I completed the site and made sure it was getting traffic before I tried to sell it to them. When they turned it down, I kept dropping the price (over several contacts with them), until I got all the way down to $50 (total, not recurring). They wouldn't even pay that much, even after I showed them it was already getting around 100 visitors per month.

I'm talking about an entire custom website, not just a mobile-friendly version. And I'm not deficient as a salesman, nor as a website builder. I've been selling to offline customers for a long time. It's just that there are many business owners out there who are simply too stupid to understand their own situation. After all, these buffoons didn't even seem to care that they were losing out on an existing 100 visitors per month (and growing) traffic. Which they chose to blow off, rather than pay a measly $50 (one time cost...not recurring...and it even included a domain name they really liked).

They do spend money on advertising, flyers, etc. Stuff they already understand and believe in. And this was an upscale restaurant with two locations...not a tiny hole-in-the wall.

No amount of technology or salesmanship will be effective on a lot of these people. You have to pre-qualify them in some way. I already knew how much they spend on advertising and promotion, but I guess that wasn't enough in the way of pre-qualification.

Bottom line: Restaurants can be tough customers, no matter what you're selling.

Not too long ago I thought I'd try an experiment. On speculation, I built a complete custom website for a restaurant, with all the bells and whistles. I completed the site and made sure it was getting traffic before I tried to sell it to them. When they turned it down, I kept dropping the price (over several contacts with them), until I got all the way down to $50 (total, not recurring). They wouldn't even pay that much, even after I showed them it was already getting around 100 visitors per month.

I'm talking about an entire custom website, not just a mobile-friendly version. And I'm not deficient as a salesman, nor as a website builder. I've been selling to offline customers for a long time. It's just that there are many business owners out there who are simply too stupid to understand their own situation. After all, these buffoons didn't even seem to care that they were losing out on an existing 100 visitors per month (and growing) traffic. Which they chose to blow off, rather than pay a measly $50 (one time cost...not recurring...and it even included a domain name they really liked).

They do spend money on advertising, flyers, etc. Stuff they already understand and believe in. And this was an upscale restaurant with two locations...not a tiny hole-in-the wall.

No amount of technology or salesmanship will be effective on a lot of these people. You have to pre-qualify them in some way. I already knew how much they spend on advertising and promotion, but I guess that wasn't enough in the way of pre-qualification.

Bottom line: Restaurants can be tough customers, no matter what you're selling.

I'm replying to my own post here, because I want to clarify something.

I think some people on this thread are assuming that I just wasn't a good enough salesman, that I hadn't built a 'KLT' (Know-Like-Trust) relationship before making an offer to this particular restaurant owner, etc. But this is not true. I was a customer of the restaurant. I made friends with the owner and he had already hired me several times to make flyers, do promotions, etc. He brags on me to other businesses, and sends me greetings on every occasion. He had already hired me to do several custom video commercials for his restaurants. He already had a website, which had cost him quite a bit of money...but which was very poorly done, and had a ton of major issues, including a lack of mobile-friendliness. I'd talked to him about all of this on many occasions.

When I built him a site on speculation (a complete website, with mobile integration), I offered it to him as either a replacement for his site (I would have moved it over for free), or as a second site on a better domain (which I also had bought and included).

I took plenty of time to show him the benefits, how it would get more customers for him, how he would make more money, have happier customers, etc. But he still didn't want to spend money on it. As I've said, over several visits I eventually cut the price all the way down to a flat (one time) fee of $50 to own the whole thing outright (along with 100 visitors per month and growing, and a very favorable domain). He still just didn't think it was worth $50 to have another website. But he did say that he wanted me to do some SEO for him...and he had already prepared a list of 10 keywords he wanted to dominate in Google. He said he wanted to hire me to get him to the number one position for each of the 10 keywords (of course). I told him I certainly could do that (I'm extremely knowledgeable and capable with SE0). I'd already showed him how (for another local business) I'd been able to get them into ALL of the first 15 spots for their main keyword in the Google natural listings (yes, the first page-and-a-half, completely dominated). So, I quoted him an extremely reasonable price for working with him on his 10 keywords. He said the price was too high (of course). Long story short, I eventually dropped the price to $100 (for the whole 10 keywords), and he still said that was way too high.

Bottom line...when I said that some business people are too stupid to understand their situation, I wasn't just trying to insult someone unjustly, and I'm pretty sure that I had already done everything humanly possible to build a relationship, demonstrate value, have patience, and even eventually offer insanely low prices (if only out of morbid curiosity).

This guy would pay good money for services like the Yellow Pages, newspaper ads, hotel cards, etc., but was incredibly hard-headed about certain things. BTW, to this day he still sends me enthusiastic greetings (such as Christmas, New Year, etc.), and keeps begging me to help him write a book (which is one of my professional services, but I just won't bother trying to do business with him, despite my amusement).

I like those coins that Edward Jones used to make their financial sales agents carry aro
und:

SOME WILL
SOME WON'T
SO WHAT

WHO'S NEXT?

Originally Posted by Salesmanship In Print

I'm replying to my own post here, because I want to clarify something.

I think some people on this thread are assuming that I just wasn't a good enough salesman, that I hadn't built a 'KLT' (Know-Like-Trust) relationship before making an offer to this particular restaurant owner, etc. But this is not true. I was a customer of the restaurant. I made friends with the owner and he had already hired me several times to make flyers, do promotions, etc. He brags on me to other businesses, and sends me greetings on every occasion. He had already hired me to do several custom video commercials for his restaurants. He already had a website, which had cost him quite a bit of money...but which was very poorly done, and had a ton of major issues, including a lack of mobile-friendliness. I'd talked to him about all of this on many occasions.

When I built him a site on speculation (a complete website, with mobile integration), I offered it to him as either a replacement for his site (I would have moved it over for free), or as a second site on a better domain (which I also had bought and included).

I took plenty of time to show him the benefits, how it would get more customers for him, how he would make more money, have happier customers, etc. But he still didn't want to spend money on it. As I've said, over several visits I eventually cut the price all the way down to a flat (one time) fee of $50 to own the whole thing outright (along with 100 visitors per month and growing, and a very favorable domain). He still just didn't think it was worth $50 to have another website. But he did say that he wanted me to do some SEO for him...and he had already prepared a list of 10 keywords he wanted to dominate in Google. He said he wanted to hire me to get him to the number one position for each of the 10 keywords (of course). I told him I certainly could do that (I'm extremely knowledgeable and capable with SE0). I'd already showed him how (for another local business) I'd been able to get them into ALL of the first 15 spots for their main keyword in the Google natural listings (yes, the first page-and-a-half, completely dominated). So, I quoted him an extremely reasonable price for working with him on his 10 keywords. He said the price was too high (of course). Long story short, I eventually dropped the price to $100 (for the whole 10 keywords), and he still said that was way too high.

Bottom line...when I said that some business people are too stupid to understand their situation, I wasn't just trying to insult someone unjustly, and I'm pretty sure that I had already done everything humanly possible to build a relationship, demonstrate value, have patience, and even eventually offer insanely low prices (if only out of morbid curiosity).

This guy would pay good money for services like the Yellow Pages, newspaper ads, hotel cards, etc., but was incredibly hard-headed about certain things. BTW, to this day he still sends me enthusiastic greetings (such as Christmas, New Year, etc.), and keeps begging me to help him write a book (which is one of my professional services, but I just won't bother trying to do business with him, despite my amusement).

What I was pointing out is that 'some won't'...and sometimes the reason is simple bull-headedness. Which is often impossible to overcome. It's not worth trying to overcome it, or to worry about it.

Absolutely!! And I wasn't beating up on you, it's just that after all you tried to to do accommodate this guy and meet him on his terms to put a product in his hands that will increase his business, he still was resistant.

I like those coins that Edward Jones used to make their financial sales agents carry aro
und:

SOME WILL
SOME WON'T
SO WHAT

WHO'S NEXT?

I agree 100%! Go through Google Places, a lot of people still think a website is worthless.

Early Adopters= Want the latest & greatest
Early Majority= Don't want to miss out
Late Majority= Must get it to stay competitive
Laggards= Won't change- think VHS Tape : )

All the hard work and all the money is made in the first 2 stages! We are still just entering the early adopters with Mobile. Those who survive will have a history and a reputation of success. I believe there is only one formula for success Opportunity + Hustle = Profit. Just my .02

Interesting experiment. May I ask if you got them as a client? I've been looking at the restaurant business for mobile, but I think I might look elsewhere. Whats your view?

After they turned down my price of $50, I decided to change my offer to $2,500 instead. I don't want them as a client...but since I already built the site, I'd sell it to them if they come up with $2,500 (not a penny less!).

Then I went to the site I'd built for them, and I put conspicuous notices on it: "This site for sale for $2,500" and also installed links back to my own site. Now ALL of the people who land on the site think the restaurant is out of business or something, but of course they also find the links to my consulting site Since I'm good with SEO, this traffic will continue to grow until I decide to cancel the domain.

Have you done any research to see if there are similar companies that are currently using mobile sites and mobile marketing. If you can locate real life examples that may also be competitors, it might give your prospects more to think about.

Mobile marketing is hot, but hot rarely translates into easy sales. The majority of the prospects you encounter simply haven't made the connection. While $29 is not a huge sum, I would hardly call it "paltry". To your prospects, it's an additional $29 on top of what they already payout in expenses.

The great part is you have two new clients. Once you help them turn a profit with their new mobile site, it's relatively easy to introduce them to other mobile marketing ideas and offer additional services.

I hear where you are coming from. My credibility may not seem like much considering my post count. And my age and experience may be a drop in the bucket compared to yours...

I know marketing, I know web development, and I know video production. I also know a thing or to about mobile.

We are still selling to a lot of potential clients that are still very much computer illiterate. Much less knowing anything about websites, mobile devices, and how they work. That's not what they specialize in. It's my job to educate them in the simplest possible way of how they will benefit by having a mobile site. Mobile globally is still in it's infancy and all of these business owners will never see the value in this until mobile marketing and mobile site are at their peak of demand. It's like this for everything. It was only 15 years ago people were still on dial up because DSL and Cable did not have a lot of demand. This made websites harder to sell as production was not that efficient. Not to mention websites look horrible then.

I have actually had a pretty good amount of success in offering mobile sites to new clients using a very different approach in the form of a unique service... I am the only firm in my area or probably in my state that has a complete mobile CMS platform. When I mention this and explain to them that they have complete control of adding and removing content on their mobile site, the value is HUGE! Especially clients who are already familiar and use a CMS. (No it's not WP)

That's my 2 cents and a little success story. I am planning on releasing my first WSO on it the first on the year.

I hear where you are coming from. My credibility may not seem like much considering my post count. And my age and experience may be a drop in the bucket compared to yours...

I know marketing, I know web development, and I know video production. I also know a thing or to about mobile.

We are still selling to a lot of potential clients that are still very much computer illiterate. Much less knowing anything about websites, mobile devices, and how they work. That's not what they specialize in. It's my job to educate them in the simplest possible way of how they will benefit by having a mobile site. Mobile globally is still in it's infancy and all of these business owners will never see the value in this until mobile marketing and mobile site are at their peak of demand. It's like this for everything. It was only 15 years ago people were still on dial up because DSL and Cable did not have a lot of demand. This made websites harder to sell as production was not that efficient. Not to mention websites look horrible then.

I have actually had a pretty good amount of success in offering mobile sites to new clients using a very different approach in the form of a unique service... I am the only firm in my area or probably in my state that has a complete mobile CMS platform. When I mention this and explain to them that they have complete control of adding and removing content on their mobile site, the value is HUGE! Especially clients who are already familiar and use a CMS. (No it's not WP)

That's my 2 cents and a little success story. I am planning on releasing my first WSO on it the first on the year.

I have actually had a pretty good amount of success in offering mobile sites to new clients using a very different approach in the form of a unique service... I am the only firm in my area or probably in my state that has a complete mobile CMS platform. When I mention this and explain to them that they have complete control of adding and removing content on their mobile site, the value is HUGE! Especially clients who are already familiar and use a CMS. (No it's not WP)

Giving them the ability to list their "specials" or updated menus is a great option.

One of my clients wanted (and got) a photo gallery page. They update it once a week or so with their guests having fun at their restaurant/bar.

Hey mak25, first of all thank you for your service. It's because of people like you that we continue to have the freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S.A. I am a late 80s/early 90s era Navy veteran, and I am humbled by those like you who served in Vietnam.

Can I ask one question to you? You said that you have been in sales for most of your career, right? What methods worked best for you throughout your career in sales - what was your sweet spot? Did you do best doing group presentations, cold calling, cold walking, warm lead follow up, networking, or what? Maybe you could segue all that great experience and apply what you did/do best to this; really leverage your strengths, you know?

judging by the responses here...the issue is not the product, but the pitchman.

You are the issue friend.

When I read the first post, it was CLEAR you were "selling" websites for a "phone" - no small business owner cares about that.

You may have been in sales for all these years and be 60 years old, but the advice given to "show them how to get customers and not buy a website" was very sound.

The next best advice was that you needed to be persistent and build relationships

That of course was BS, and you later asked how often you should follow up and why you should follow up with someone "not interested" (probably because they are not interested "now" and will be later...or your timing was bad - it is clear you do not know how to set appointments by the way you described the short amount of time..but anyway...)

With all these years of sales experience, you should have a long customer list to call from. People you have relationships with that see you as a problem solver and solution provider...oh wait...thats BS...you want the telemarketing route -- SLAM THE SALE the minute you meet and MOVE ON!

I guess thats why you are not getting referrals either...

See a pattern here?

Sounds like you are from that old school hardclosertakechargecontroltheconversationfindthei rpainandassumethesalesandler mentality that stopped working 2 decades ago.

You are the kind of rep Sales Managers call coaches like me in to train. And your type either pitches a fit and leaves because they know it all (but don't perform) or they learn and grow and become rock stars.

Bottom line: People buy from people. and they buy from people they know, like and trust. Clearly they don't know you, and you don't give them time to trust you, and if you give customers the attitude you have given the people here trying to help you, calling it all BS...well I am amazed you made even 2 sales.

I assure you majority of those owners will buy a mobile site at sometime. You are on something that is cutting edge. I remember when I sold websites, and THEY were considered cutting edge. Why buy one when you can get one free from GEOCITIES? lol

Yet I grew my company from 0 to 10 employees in 2 years...

You have a lot of pride. Clearly Mobile sites sell, and sell well. Clearly you are not selling any..."Law of the Lid", Friend (21 irrefutable laws of leadership)...

but you don't see the problem as you...its the "stupid customers":rolleyes:

The other problem is you have the mindset of a salesman, you are concerned about what you have to offer, and you clearly have not been a business owner, and therefore you are not concerned about what you can do for them.

The minute you figure out your attitude will determine your sales, you will be able do dozens of sales per month.

judging by the responses here...the issue is not the product, but the pitchman.

You are the issue friend.

When I read the first post, it was CLEAR you were "selling" websites for a "phone" - no small business owner cares about that.

You may have been in sales for all these years and be 60 years old, but the advice given to "show them how to get customers and not buy a website" was very sound.

The next best advice was that you needed to be persistent and build relationships

That of course was BS, and you later asked how often you should follow up and why you should follow up with someone "not interested" (probably because they are not interested "now" and will be later...or your timing was bad - it is clear you do not know how to set appointments by the way you described the short amount of time..but anyway...)

With all these years of sales experience, you should have a long customer list to call from. People you have relationships with that see you as a problem solver and solution provider...oh wait...thats BS...you want the telemarketing route -- SLAM THE SALE the minute you meet and MOVE ON!

I guess thats why you are not getting referrals either...

See a pattern here?

Sounds like you are from that old school hardclosertakechargecontroltheconversationfindthei rpainandassumethesalesandler mentality that stopped working 2 decades ago.

You are the kind of rep Sales Managers call coaches like me in to train. And your type either pitches a fit and leaves because they know it all (but don't perform) or they learn and grow and become rock stars.

Bottom line: People buy from people. and they buy from people they know, like and trust. Clearly they don't know you, and you don't give them time to trust you, and if you give customers the attitude you have given the people here trying to help you, calling it all BS...well I am amazed you made even 2 sales.

I assure you majority of those owners will buy a mobile site at sometime. You are on something that is cutting edge. I remember when I sold websites, and THEY were considered cutting edge. Why buy one when you can get one free from GEOCITIES? lol

Yet I grew my company from 0 to 10 employees in 2 years...

You have a lot of pride. Clearly Mobile sites sell, and sell well. Clearly you are not selling any..."Law of the Lid", Friend (21 irrefutable laws of leadership)...

but you don't see the problem as you...its the "stupid customers":rolleyes:

The other problem is you have the mindset of a salesman, you are concerned about what you have to offer, and you clearly have not been a business owner, and therefore you are not concerned about what you can do for them.

The minute you figure out your attitude will determine your sales, you will be able do dozens of sales per month.

my 2¢
(which I am sure you will call "BS")

I agree 110%. "The Only Constant in Life is CHANGE" & "Adapt or Die"

Sales is an ever changing landscape due to human psychology and priorities of business.

Twisting a prospects arm isnt going to work...

Shaking Pom Poms and jumping up and down singing the praises of a product or service is not going to work.

Trying to explain the Technology behind the product or Service isnt going to work.

They arent going to buy it because it's "Pretty.

20 yrs ago the first thing a Car Salesman would show a Female Car shopper was the Vanity Mirror....try that nowadays and you can kiss that prospect goodbye...

Knowing your Target Market in terms of their "Pain Points", Goals, Needs, and addressing each one of those areas all while showing your Prospect the "Solution" is what is going to sell the product or service.

judging by the responses here...the issue is not the product, but the pitchman.

You are the issue friend.

When I read the first post, it was CLEAR you were "selling" websites for a "phone" - no small business owner cares about that.

You may have been in sales for all these years and be 60 years old, but the advice given to "show them how to get customers and not buy a website" was very sound.

The next best advice was that you needed to be persistent and build relationships

That of course was BS, and you later asked how often you should follow up and why you should follow up with someone "not interested" (probably because they are not interested "now" and will be later...or your timing was bad - it is clear you do not know how to set appointments by the way you described the short amount of time..but anyway...)

With all these years of sales experience, you should have a long customer list to call from. People you have relationships with that see you as a problem solver and solution provider...oh wait...thats BS...you want the telemarketing route -- SLAM THE SALE the minute you meet and MOVE ON!

I guess thats why you are not getting referrals either...

See a pattern here?

Sounds like you are from that old school hardclosertakechargecontroltheconversationfindthei rpainandassumethesalesandler mentality that stopped working 2 decades ago.

You are the kind of rep Sales Managers call coaches like me in to train. And your type either pitches a fit and leaves because they know it all (but don't perform) or they learn and grow and become rock stars.

Bottom line: People buy from people. and they buy from people they know, like and trust. Clearly they don't know you, and you don't give them time to trust you, and if you give customers the attitude you have given the people here trying to help you, calling it all BS...well I am amazed you made even 2 sales.

I assure you majority of those owners will buy a mobile site at sometime. You are on something that is cutting edge. I remember when I sold websites, and THEY were considered cutting edge. Why buy one when you can get one free from GEOCITIES? lol

Yet I grew my company from 0 to 10 employees in 2 years...

You have a lot of pride. Clearly Mobile sites sell, and sell well. Clearly you are not selling any..."Law of the Lid", Friend (21 irrefutable laws of leadership)...

but you don't see the problem as you...its the "stupid customers":rolleyes:

The other problem is you have the mindset of a salesman, you are concerned about what you have to offer, and you clearly have not been a business owner, and therefore you are not concerned about what you can do for them.

The minute you figure out your attitude will determine your sales, you will be able do dozens of sales per month.

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "you know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

SHOW them the value! Get a mobile phone, search for say pizza restaurant, and SHOW THEM their competitors who DO have a Google places listing, that leads to their mobile site. People on the go want a site easy to get to what they want, they don't want to zoom in to see the phone number on their regular site. Also do a MOCK-UP of their mobile site, like using dudamobile.com, its easy and free. Once you show them THEIR site in mobile form, they are more likely to buy than showing them your previous work. Also keep in mind that a lot of people may not buy from your the first time, so follow up! Not necessarily bu phone calls, just send them a post card thanking them for the time they spent with you and "reminding" them of your offer. Maybe also get someone else to go with you and give you tips on what you're doing right / wrong on your presentations. Good luck! Hope you get more sales : )

Wow Thanks so much good input from so many people from all levels so good job for starting this thread and I think if Mak25 didnt want to learn he wouldn't be a Warrior Forum Member as some referred to his skill sets and attitude. Im glad for one he started the Thread it allowed me to learn so much.
He also said something that really sticks in my mind hes in a smaller area of New Jersey. One thing I observed over years is people have routines especially in smaller towns and probably already know where they want to go eat or drink. So some areas this idea of mobile web sites etc..just isnt that valid IMHO.
At least 1 or 2 people here commented on Market Research. Hitting the nail on the head I think in this case. He Mak25 described lots of smaller towns back to back probably wont be pulling out their smart phones to see what cool restaurants are out there.
In fact I just moved to a small town and the age demographics are older people with no cell phone or an old one nothing more than an old Razor style like my parents have and barely know how to use it. Plus the coverage if they had one is horrible for high speed connection.
In most smaller community's there really aren't that many dinning out options. So people already have their favorites again Creatures of Habit-So if anything why not reverse prospect and go to people and tell them to ask the owner to do something like offer rewards programs or only target places that already do offer rewards programs.
Robert Kiyosaki sold his first books with this method. No Book stores wanted to carry Rich Dad Poor Dad, they didn't see the value or demand. He developed blitz sent out people from his friends, neighbors and JV partners to encourage to the stores asking for the stores to carry it.

Hi mak25 it's my feeling that especially restaurants suffer the Groupon Syndrome.
Giving a 50% rebate after which they have to share 50/50 with Groupon and then leaves them with 25%.

My suggestion would be to go after all the Groupon etc. advertiser and do a reverse calculation of their "advertising-costs".

Search for the current Groupon offers closest to you and pick the numbers i.e. value $23 for $10 over 200 sold and do the math --> discount $13 plus $5 for groupon times 200 = $3600 for a single ad with groupon. Bet you can do better :-)

Should you be interested I'll give you some coordintes in order to make individual restaurant ads on a FB Fan page feel free to contact me, Martin

like you, Ive been in sales and marketing a Long LONG time and in my opinion the perceived value just isnt there yet. Nothing has happened to make them "see" a demand, a need or a return.
DUH!
you're not going to get many calls from an internet capable mobile phone if you dont have a mobile friendly web site.

I have an outsourcing company and I develop and promote mobile conversions and mobile sites for clients. They are ALL struggling with the same issues. I can tell you some of the things they have done or I have done for them at their request that has worked but basically the only people who see the value are the ones that have taken the risk, (good sales hook BTW that you are free to use as my gift :-)

first of all is case studies. There is info online to give you the data you need to put together a power point or a printed color graph showing things like
starbucks, amazon, ebay etc. Thier sales have all jumped in double and triple digits promoting mobile sites and apps

showing them this and then telling them you'll be showing this to competitors so he can be first or last but he knows as well as you do that is own wife or kids is using their Iphone to contact starbicks. does he think Java Joe's is happy about that?

there are two other things Ive seen work really well that I think are really good.

offer to build them an app and tell them they can use it for free BUT you make 5% of every order. This can build into an incredible recurring revenue stream very quickly because now the business assumes NO RISK but your upside can be HUGE>
once they take the deal they are also open for all kinds of upsells of dsign and features

OR
tell them they can buy it for $1800 (made up number you base your prices on perceived value and what the market will bear)

the other is get a booth at trade shows and THEY WILL COME TO YOU.
At the very least you avoid that 2 hour window.
You may think the cost is prohibitive but if you add the cost of your time, your gas and your anti-rejection juice going down. it is probably a VERY smart move

you'd be amazed at the interest level. Probably from the same people who turned you down before. EVERYBODY knows its coming they just dont see the value to them in their bank account yet so they're waiting. BUT you launch the app taking 5% and promote it at a show and
0H MY GOD!

CUT ME IN AND I'll build the apps and provide tech support!!!!!!!!!

Finally, (I dont care for this one but Ive seen it work)
build your own perceived value.
set up a network of people (pay them if you have to), to start calling up in Jan asking what their mobile website address is. have them act shocked when they are told there isnt one and have them ask for the number of a competitor before they hang up

rest. hello thanks for calling Joes
customer:what is your mobile website?
rest: sorry we dont have one can I take your order
cust : no I wanted to look at a menu and click with my phone. do you know the number for the restaurant around the corner from you. They have a mobile site I think
Rest: Im sorry I dont.

click bbbzzzzzzzzzzz

rest: Hey boss. Just got another call about a mobile site

personally I dont believe this is smart business. Building up fake expectations is NEVER good in my opinion and I wouldnt share it except Ive seen it work

Tony: (perpetual marketing), thanks for the info and links to those mobile sites. Those are from Kevin Koop's WSO right? Gotta love those icons. I've set up some myself for existing clients, but your method of finding and selling seems to be spot on. I just checked a popular restaurant in my town and according to Google, they have 590 searches per month for their name just on mobile devices. Yet their website sucks when displayed on my Android mobile device. I'll be putting them on my list to contact. Thanks again.

I think what is happening with a lot of people is that Internet marketers like to box and tag everything where in reality it is not that complicated.

Offline marketing, mobile marketing, Internet marketing and all the other tags do not mean there is a whole different set of rules for each one.

Marketing products is all about providing information, the benefits and whats in it for the customer. Convey these properly and you can have a very successful business.

QR Codes etc are simply tools to enhance the process.

There are millions of people who use them so do not leave one process because it may not be as popular as others. I certainly do not believe the statement that 80% of college students can't work out QR Codes. I bet if you were offering a free coffee or something important to them they would work it out pretty quickly.

I also find that most IM people tend to follow what is presented nicely by other IM people and yet much of the information is of poor quality and usually has some underlying reason such as upsell etc. Doing training through resources that have no underlying agenda and more in the main stream will equip you much better.

If you go and search in Google "free online university college marketing courses" you will find lots of colleges and universities provide lecture notes and videos which are a lot higher quality and have no hidden agenda.

Mike: Your attitude is disaster. It is one of an order taker and not of a salesman.
If you believe your customers are "rubes" that will come through loud and clear....before you even open your mouth. All things being equal, it's generally not the product....it's the salesman. Know, like and trust still applies. The tone of your posts would not meet the minimum threshold for K.L.T. People buy from people...unless you have the only oasis in the middle of desert...then you can take orders. There is a lot of excellent advice and content on this thread.

Ok well just to add some humor I think the one reply with "No wonder you cant sell" should of used the word "Cell" just saying. It's a shame there are people who get replied to in this way from a very earnest person looking for help.

Great thread MAK25

So what can I say that hasn't already been said. I have been following this thread and I am amazed at the amount of info here and some very good info. Also the pieces from some top warriors. I'm very impressed when people come out to help.

So the one thing I picked up on was where you are "South Jersey"

In the real world brick and mortar business it always has and will be "Location, Location, Location" So am I stating the obvious well perhaps. It has been my experience that I cannot market certain things in certain areas simply because of the Demographics.

Demographics you say !! who in the world would study demographics of there potential customer base. Just a guy who has spent a few years in marketing.

So indeed you have a rough go of it in your particular area and for all the good reasons you and others have stated.

Why would I know this. I checked the Demographics for South Jersey and Jersey.

First I pulled up a link on the first page of Google for "South Jersey" South Jersey Dining Directory and oh yes I pulled up the dining directory.

Lots of restaurants with maps. Now please don't think I dont feel like you hadn't already did this, I just wanted to check for myself.

I also pulled up a map of "Jersey" I love the fact that there are so many of your niche market along the coast.

What I'm getting at is I found enough potential areas and businesses to market too that it really got me going. The first site has some missing pages for "Resources" as a example they have downloads for guides I would contact the publishers of the brochures and see about making them mobile.

Also the other publication searches I did have some great ideas for mobile.

So the big question is do I sell mobile sites.

Yes my niche is "Addiction Treatment".

As a note please know that I have spent several years going to another way of marketing products and services which is "Conferences" and "Exhibitor Shows" So perhaps going to a Restaurant Show such as New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA) or a few of the national shows.

Well I just didn't want to way in with more words and not some actual support for you. AND you may have all this done or may not need it.

It takes getting out of my comfort zone to hang myself out there so please be gentle if anything I said here bothers anyone.

One last thing Arizona is Local to me. Prescott Arizona is where I live. If I had a mobile site for cowboys here in Prescott I would be hard pressed to sell it. !!!!! Home of Worlds Largest Rodeo

And yes we use cell phones here to tell our friend which of the dozen restaurants Im in. LOL Keep on keeping on !!

mak25 I would like to thank you for this post....I am having the same problems with the restaurants here in Ohio. It just seems like they don't get how mobile can help them. You have a lot of great information that people have posted here. I see I have to change my course of action. Once again thanks for your post this helps out a lot of us newbies..

I have been selling SMS services to restaurants for the past year with good
success.

My model has been to offer the first 30 days free while setting up their
in house marketing campaigns (simple stuff, flyers, etc.) to get their lists
built quickly. We offer 1 cent beers, free apps, etc to motivate people to join
the list. Then, after about 20 days, I hit the new list and "wham", instant
traffic.

I lay it all out for them on an iPad presentation which takes 10 minutes to fully
explain with testimonials and major benefits.

Point is, it is very simple, benefit driven, and they instantly get it. Then, and only
then, have I been able to sell them other products/services of which they almost
always buy (mobile sites, QRs).

Restaurant owners are not stupid, just incredibly busy and NOT tech savvy. Also,
they are not trusting people as they get swarmed with people trying to sell them
stuff constantly.

I have been selling SMS services to restaurants for the past year with good
success.

My model has been to offer the first 30 days free while setting up their in house marketing campaigns (simple stuff, flyers, etc.) to get their lists built quickly. We offer 1 cent beers, free apps, etc to motivate people to join the list. Then, after about 20 days, I hit the new list and "wham", instant traffic.

I lay it all out for them on an iPad presentation which takes 10 minutes to fully
explain with testimonials and major benefits.

Point is, it is very simple, benefit driven, and they instantly get it. Then, and only
then, have I been able to sell them other products/services of which they almost
always buy (mobile sites, QRs).

Restaurant owners are not stupid, just incredibly busy and NOT tech savvy. Also,
they are not trusting people as they get swarmed with people trying to sell them
stuff constantly.

Hope that inspires some ideas.

Bill

So, how do you absorb the cost of the first 30 days free? What SMS provider are you using?

I definitely like the idea that you are giving something of value to the business owner, and you eliminate the resistance, pretty much. I can see how easy it would be to print out a bunch of flyers with QR codes and "text BEER to 90210" and build up a list, which would then pretty much sell itself to the owner once it's up and running, but that first month cost, how do you handle that?

So, how do you absorb the cost of the first 30 days free? What SMS provider are you using?

I definitely like the idea that you are giving something of value to the business owner, and you eliminate the resistance, pretty much. I can see how easy it would be to print out a bunch of flyers with QR codes and "text BEER to 90210" and build up a list, which would then pretty much sell itself to the owner once it's up and running, but that first month cost, how do you handle that?

I like your style though! Good system!

TextHub.com. It is the creation of a friend of mine so I get unlimited use, but that doesn't matter. You can use just about any system that allows you to set up compaigns with a short code and go on a selling rampage. There are many SMS systems which will allow for this, but stay away from the ones that charge for each short code in favor of a bundle. This way, you can attack say a bundle of 5, get 5 restaurants on the system after 30 days, and then buy more short codes and sell more.

I charge $100/month to do this for a list up to 500 people. It pays my mortgage

I have been selling SMS services to restaurants for the past year with good
success.

My model has been to offer the first 30 days free while setting up their
in house marketing campaigns (simple stuff, flyers, etc.) to get their lists
built quickly. We offer 1 cent beers, free apps, etc to motivate people to join
the list. Then, after about 20 days, I hit the new list and "wham", instant
traffic.

I lay it all out for them on an iPad presentation which takes 10 minutes to fully
explain with testimonials and major benefits.

Point is, it is very simple, benefit driven, and they instantly get it. Then, and only
then, have I been able to sell them other products/services of which they almost
always buy (mobile sites, QRs).

Restaurant owners are not stupid, just incredibly busy and NOT tech savvy. Also,
they are not trusting people as they get swarmed with people trying to sell them
stuff constantly.

Hope that inspires some ideas.

Bill

Mike you hit it right on the head. We do the same thing. We offer 30 days of FREE SMS Text Marketing plus a FREE Mobile website.

They get 500 subscribers their first month and we make sure they get as many of those 500 subscribers as possible signed up. We make sure they send out 2 powerful campaigns near the end of their 30 days and BOOM! Floods of business.

Then it's them asking where do I sign up. We charge them $147/mo for their FREE mobile website hosting, 1000 SMS subscribers with unlimited text messages, and coupons etc.

Prior to visiting we do build up a mock website to get them engaged a little faster. Our reps end up getting paid a nice monthly commission too as do our mobile website design staff.

For restaurants owners, you want to show them what their competition is doing with their mobile site, and why. Explain that their competition is grabbing all the mobile users looking for a restaurant and that it would be a damn shame to allow that to continue, especially when you have a mobile site with their name on it (literally) waiting for you to transfer it over to them.

There are numerous ways to add value for restaurants. Why not start w/ a campaign to collect customer opt ins? Use a menu card or table tent "for 10% off todays meal, text 0000 to XXXXX" Get buttons for waitresses to wear, "10% off today, ask me how" Get paper drink coasters printed with the text offer or QR code. Especially at sitdown restaurants, people have nothing to do while waiting for food. They play w/ their phones and read everything on the table. They will now have a heckuva list in no time to do various promotions.

Another entry into restaurants, why not do a reservation text reminder setup? Also a great way to get into docs, chiros, dentists, spa's, golf courses etc....They lose real revenue when people skip their appointments. Text reminders can help a lot.

Hey Guys,
I have been reading a lot about mobile marketing in the forum but was wondering what the difference is betwn a mobile website and one that I view using my phone today? I know that when I pull one up today, the print is very small and I am not able to see the entire site on the screen. Will the mobile sites be more screen friendly. I am thinking about purchasing software to build my own sites, but just wander what the main difference was before I make that investment. thanks

Hey Guys,
I have been reading a lot about mobile marketing in the forum but was wondering what the difference is betwn a mobile website and one that I view using my phone today? I know that when I pull one up today, the print is very small and I am not able to see the entire site on the screen. Will the mobile sites be more screen friendly. I am thinking about purchasing software to build my own sites, but just wander what the main difference was before I make that investment. thanks

You've seen what a "regular" site looks like on your phone. Now, pull up a mobile optimized site and you'll see the difference with your own eyes. It's night and day actually. Think what the reaction will be from a business owner who has invested in a "regular" site when you show them how that looks on a phone, and then how a mobile optimized version of that site looks. Ask them which they think their customers would prefer to view on their phone. As far as which displays their info on a phone better..., it's a no-brainer.

Mobile sites are fit to the smart phones screen. Large buttons, easy to navigate, no long loading times. They are light. Not heavy so to speak. Makes it quick, clean, and easy with click to call buttons, about us, location.....etc....
The one you are viewing on your phone is perfect for laptop or desktop. If its long to load, small fonts, etc..
Businesses have to go where the eyes are. It's where this market is going and will only move forward.

I didn't read every single post because it's 4 pages so excuse me if someone already brought this up, but what is included in your $350 per year asking price? I assume periodic updates, maintenance, etc? Have you considered using another price point like a one time flat fee for setting up the site? Instead of asking for a yearly fee perhaps you could offer a one time set up fee for the mobile site and if at some point they need the site updated they could contract your services at an hourly rate? That might be another angle you want to try.

I agree it can be frustrating sometimes and some business owners will nickel and dime you.

Just find the right niche, test and tweak it, then attach at full force!

That niche can be restaurants and lodges off the highway, real estate agents, car dealerships...whatever you feel comfortable with.

I've learned a lot about pricing my sites and will do anywhere from $299-$399 and include in depth analytic reports every month. That opens the door for PLENTY of other opportunities for upsells month after month and its been very effective for me.

So is nobody making the money that they are talking about with mobile marketing or what? I am tying to absorb in as much info as possible, I am fairly new to marketing. Have been doing it for a while now, but not been very successful so i'm playing ketchup now.

So is nobody making the money that they are talking about with mobile marketing or what? I am tying to absorb in as much info as possible, I am fairly new to marketing. Have been doing it for a while now, but not been very successful so i'm playing ketchup now.

We'll never know what anyone is really making. People exaggerate their income even when working a salaried job. The exaggeration might be 5x worse for self-employment. I never believe any income claims made via a marketing piece anyhow. Though so long as the concept is credible, it doesn't much matter what anyone else claims they earn. It's neither here nor there.

The price point is way too low, makes it seem like there is not enough value to sign on or may seem leery... The psychology of the customer/client is the obstacle here. Think of the things we all pay top dollar for. If gas is $4 a gallon and someone with a fuel truck pulled up next to you offering his gas for $1, would you buy it or would you say no becasue you think it might be tainted and damage your car? Worth it to take that risk??

The psychology is similar here...

"Obviously you are providing an excellent product, but it must not be that good or trendy because the cost is very cheap. Could seem like a waste of my time and make my company look bad..." - typical customer unaware of the power of the internet/social media/mobile marketing.

Door to door is not how to approach this. Go to meetings and caucuses of local business via the chamber of commerce or small business association in your area. Talk to the panel, ask if you can do a presentation - and use your sales skill to really drive it home. Have flyers and biz cards ready to hand out and do a Q & A, etc.

...and CHARGE MORE! NO less than $500 per site and $49 hosting. The right clients will pay that. Just my experience with mobile so far.

Yep the game is simple. If you have to approach customers cold, you'll generally charge less. If you do marketing and establish some authority and they approach you, you can charge more.

Originally Posted by KingMedia

The price point is way too low, makes it seem like there is not enough value to sign on or may seem leery... The psychology of the customer/client is the obstacle here. Think of the things we all pay top dollar for. If gas is $4 a gallon and someone with a fuel truck pulled up next to you offering his gas for $1, would you buy it or would you say no becasue you think it might be tainted and damage your car? Worth it to take that risk??

The psychology is similar here...

"Obviously you are providing an excellent product, but it must not be that good or trendy because the cost is very cheap. Could seem like a waste of my time and make my company look bad..." - typical customer unaware of the power of the internet/social media/mobile marketing.

Door to door is not how to approach this. Go to meetings and caucuses of local business via the chamber of commerce or small business association in your area. Talk to the panel, ask if you can do a presentation - and use your sales skill to really drive it home. Have flyers and biz cards ready to hand out and do a Q & A, etc.

...and CHARGE MORE! NO less than $500 per site and $49 hosting. The right clients will pay that. Just my experience with mobile so far.

I think websites for mobile fones are great because of the new upcoming smartphone trend.
But if you take this question about 2 or 3 years back, having websites for mobile was no good. The difference comes from the type of phones we have now a days.

We'll never know what anyone is really making. People exaggerate their income even when working a salaried job. The exaggeration might be 5x worse for self-employment. I never believe any income claims made via a marketing piece anyhow. Though so long as the concept is credible, it doesn't much matter what anyone else claims they earn. It's neither here nor there.

For what its worth the thing I am seeing based on what you've posted is that you seem to not give a hoot if the prospect knows what to do with a mobile site.

Sure they look cool, sure the design work is AWESOME but the very second you communicate that they have to promote it, drive traffic to it, let existing customers know about it, you loose them.

Here's what you've said more then once in this thread:

I can only give them the venue to bring in more customers. If they don't promote
their site, or make sure their customers and potential customers know about their mobile site,
that's on them, not me.

That's on them, not on me. So basically to "me" you are communicating that you only care about selling a web site and moving on. So you're not really providing squat to benefit the business owner.

But again, the 'more customers' come from THEM promoting their mobile site properly. My problem, I think, is that they just can't see or understand how what I am offering them will bring in more business or customers. I can talk to them until I'm blue in the face, but then I start sounding like a 'fish oil salesman', and that's not my style.

Could it be that they don't get that a mobile site can help them get more customers because you aren't helping them understand how to promote the site to begin with?

So..not only have I been in sales for 25+ years I've owned several of my own brick and mortar businesses and I honestly I would not be doing business with you. I don't want just another expense because you say I need it and that promoting it is my responsibility especially if I have no clue or understanding of how to do that.

BUT...

If you help provide me a means or show me a means to promote it and use the product so I get even a small chance to see a return them I'm most likely in unless you have really bad breath.

Ok I am new to the Forum granted, however I have tried a few things from WSOs in regards to offline marketing.

I read a page in a half and I can't read anymore my eyes hurt. LOL. I will just put in my response on what I personally did that worked BUT it's not something I decided to continue to do.

To me these businesses have heard it all..blah, blah, blah.. I don't care unless you have a magic bullet that will increase my business I don't want to hear about it,, RIGHT?

Just an FYI have been in sales for several years so I have a little bit of a clue.. Not much but a little J Anyway..

Here is an unconventional way of doing things.. Some may disagree, but in this arena you have to REVERSE the leverage in your favor. Instead of them holding the cookie you need to be the one holding it..

So here is my disclosure. 1st I worked for FREE!!!! Yes FREE.. and for a little while to. I would find about 10 of the same type of local businesses in my area that didn't have a website.. (Not sure of your technical skills) but I would send them a letter in the mail telling them I found their company and noticed they didn't have a website.. I offered them a one time "Offer" if they are the 1st to respond I would create a site (generic review blog) for them get it ranked and drive their 1st customer to them from the site.. Normally this took me personally about 60 days. Basically the company got a FREE 60 day trial.. I was doing this with 3 - 4 sites at a time.. As you may or may not know it does take time to get a site ranked on a LOW budget and NO help.. It was a challenge

Normally I would get about 2 or 3 responses back I kept my word I would contact that business that I received back 1st. Let them know they won.. get the details from them I needed and asked if they can offer a small discount to those coming from the site? BINGO.. They now know when they will get their 1st customer.

NOW after the 60 days is up.. WHO is holding the cookie now? I would setup a meeting with them and advise if they would like to continue here are my prices.. I gave them 3 options sales tactic of course and let them point to the one that best fits their budget.

After my first 6 months I had 5 businesses lined up. To make them happy I offered free setup of google places and a free fan page.. FREE to do I know that, but they didn't!

In month 8 I approached them about a mobile site 2 of the 5 business took me up the others said they would consider it at a later time. The odds were in my favor still as they have already paid me or were paying me monthly.. So they are used to handling me a check. BOTTOM LINE they already perceived me as an EXPERT.. HAHA. Right me.. FAR From it.

The business model worked for me.. I didn't continue to add more businesess as it was to much for me to handle. I know a real "SEO" guy I sold the few clients to. I know they are in good hands

Anyway I hope this helps and adds a different view.

Eddie

PS.. I will also add if a client decided NOT to continue after the 60 days .. The site is MINE plus its ranked PLUS I have a few other responses from my mailing right behind them.. BAM.. Out with the old in with the NEW! Lol You remain in control at all times..

You want a blunt approach.....
Do your RESEARCH, and find out how many people have been searching for their kind of restaurant on their phones. (Ex: Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.)

Say the number is 40 searches per month. Well if you have been around a while you know the majority go to the top positions.

Gather up some of your friends, post an ad on Craigslist, go door to door.... etc.
Offer people $10 or a free app or something. To go to 3 different restaurants with you and stand in the lobby. (I have one street by me that has over 25 restaurants within a 1/2 mile radius.)

Now you propose your mobile site and talk about how they can acquire more customers and by not taking advantage of the site, they are missing out on the customers. More benefits, more benefits, blah, blah....

Now, if they tell you no.. Yell, to everyone waiting. "Time to go. They aren't interested in your business. Let's go!" Because without capitalizing on your mobile site, that is what they are saying to their customers.

That will get their attention!
If they still don't care, move on. Remember you are going to 3 restaurants.
If they get your point, charge an additional $200 dollars. Let's say you normally charge $297. Well, if you paid out $10/person for 20 people that's $200. So, now you charge $497. Also, spend the money on the people at that restaurant.
If you close the deal, have everyone sit down and buy them their app or drink or whatever deal you worked out.

*Sorry, I am a little different in my approaches. I am also a little blunt. I guess watching Boiler Room isn't that great of an idea

Forgive me for asking Vndnbrgj (don't know what else to call you) but I have to ask did you actually do that or is this a theory that sounds...well...like it might work but which isn't worth a (bleep) in real life?

I mean I would never personally advise anyone to do what you describe as such is just manipulating business owners into a sale but I am curious if that is a technique which you actually use and use successfully in real life.

Yeah that's quite the approach....I think business owners want to deal with someone who genuinely values and cares about their business. I don't think in this scenario, you are helping close the sale by this scare tactic.

This is just my opinion and I have certainly not tried this, but don't intend on it either.

As you have been in sales I understand that you know that it is all about testing and measuring.

Finding the right approach can sometimes take a lot of work but once you find the right approach then you find the gold.

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

1. I established a QR Code site for Australia at Marketing For Australian Businesses with a generator that sends me the people who generate QR Codes for their business and this gives me 20 to 30 leads a month.

I also get a lot of phone calls for clients who just want to get a QR Code and Mobile Site.

2. There is an old saying in Internet Marketing which states the money is in the list. When I started I did not have a list so I contacted businesses that did and did some deals which got me established and also got me referrals. Printers, promotions companies, advertisers etc.

3. I hired a lady to do moc ups for businesses and walked in with a QR Code to their moc up and this converts quite well for cold calling.

Coupon mobile sites are also a good way to get more business. So retailers can add a QR Code to link to a coupon which people can redeem.

Another area is to look at current QR Codes on offer and see if they direct to a main site or mobile site and then contact them to show how their marketing is falling down.

Finally always have some upsells like looking at their current desktop site and offer your services to help get more leads etc.

Quentin

Originally Posted by mak25

That's what I would love to know.

After spending the better part of one month calling on restaurants
and pizza shops, and any eatery that isn't a hole-in-the-wall, I've come
to the conclusion that Mobile sites w/QR codes just doesn't cut it.

For eateries and the like, I get it. Menus, coupons, specials.
For anyone else, I don't really know what the selling point is.

If I owned a hardware store, why would I want one?

So what's your story? Or is it just me? Or my area? Or the niche?

Any and all responses would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

=================

Hi MIke,

Have read your comment and it is indeed a very good point for an argument. Whilst it is true that when you go around to get customers, they would feel some hesitations and you can say a VERY tough task to do in mobile marketing.

But you have to take note also that there is a great chance that the people you had surveyed don't have a clear understanding of what "being mobile" can do for them and to their business. And that is where our "ROLE" should take place -- let us bring awareness through giving the right information to them.

At the same time, if you will just widened your search a bit more maybe, you will be glad to know that almost everyone is gong mobile and benefiting from the endless possibilities of earning from it.

You sell mobile stuff tell me if you can .... Do you sell mobile stuff because you can't do it?

You heard the saying who can't do teach...

If you can't say then looks like your are just trying to promote your link in your sig... Stop making these type of post if you have no real value to ad... saying you don't get it then not telling me why is no value...

Others

in the real world you don't see... lets take the dry cleaner down the road from me... he does a great business you don't see him telling others how to to dry cleaning...

Or take the pizzeria they don't sell their recipe to everyone...

So why do people sell there how to something... because it really don't work but say it does.

If people are so successful why are the selling their secret? You don't see real business does this.

You sell mobile stuff tell me if you can .... Do you sell mobile stuff because you can't do it?

You heard the saying who can't do teach...

If you can't say then looks like your are just trying to promote your link in your sig... Stop making these type of post if you have no real value to ad... saying you don't get it then not telling me why is no value...

Others

in the real world you don't see... lets take the dry cleaner down the road from me... he does a great business you don't see him telling others how to to dry cleaning...

Or take the pizzeria they don't sell their recipe to everyone...

So why do people sell there how to something... because it really don't work but say it does.

If people are so successful why are the selling their secret? You don't see real business does this.

There you will find a ton of posts from me regarding mobile websites BEFORE I had any intention of releasing a product. In fact the reason I released my WSO was because people kept asking me to document what I was doing and they wanted access to the template I was already using successfully.

2. My product has gone on to sell thousands of copies and has thousands of testimonials from people who have used it and made money. So clearly you have NO idea what you are talking about. I guess guys like Frank Kern, Anthony Robbins, Richard Branson, etc have no idea what they are talking about since they teach the business methods they use to be successful. I guess guys like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are also crap cooks because they teach the techniques and recipes they have used to be successful.

Your ignorance makes me laugh.

3. I guess those who can't teach or sell anything have to resort to making their sole income from reviewing other people's products. Funny, you are willing to make money off all these products you condemn?

You're a walking contradiction my friend. Please go and educate yourself so we don't have to spend so much time doing it for you.

Originally Posted by RichardDean

saying you don't get it then not telling me why is no value...

I'm not going to spell things out for you because as I said, it has all been discussed already throughout the thread. Do you need to be spoon fed? For you to arrive at a thread and comment on it without even reading any of the posts above yours just goes to show your pure ignorance and there is no way I am going to try and help someone like that. You are one of those people who like to think they know everything and because they know they don't, they find it easier to just pass over the cold hard facts.

As I said, read through the posts before commenting. You are just embarrassing yourself.

Originally Posted by RichardDean

If the website was built right no need for mobile I build all my clients websites so they look good on phones.

Can I have your clients details? Sounds like they need a new webmaster ASAP.

There you will find a ton of posts from me regarding mobile websites BEFORE I had any intention of releasing a product. In fact the reason I released my WSO was because people kept asking me to document what I was doing and they wanted access to the template I was already using successfully.

2. My product has gone on to sell thousands of copies and has thousands of testimonials from people who have used it and made money. So clearly you have NO idea what you are talking about. I guess guys like Frank Kern, Anthony Robbins, Richard Branson, etc have no idea what they are talking about since they teach the business methods they use to be successful. I guess guys like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are also crap cooks because they teach the techniques and recipes they have used to be successful.

Your ignorance makes me laugh.

3. I guess those who can't teach or sell anything have to resort to making their sole income from reviewing other people's products. Funny, you are willing to make money off all these products you condemn?

You're a walking contradiction my friend. Please go and educate yourself so we don't have to spend so much time doing it for you.

I'm not going to spell things out for you because as I said, it has all been discussed already throughout the thread. Do you need to be spoon fed? For you to arrive at a thread and comment on it without even reading any of the posts above yours just goes to show your pure ignorance and there is no way I am going to try and help someone like that. You are one of those people who like to think they know everything and because they know they don't, they find it easier to just pass over the cold hard facts.

As I said, read through the posts before commenting. You are just embarrassing yourself.

Can I have your clients details? Sounds like they need a new webmaster ASAP.

These guys you mention have years of experiences and are masters of their field.

They did not compile a few theories and slap it together.... they are true masters.

How dare you think you are even close to doing what the ones you have mention you are not even close to any of them.

Tony Robbins has dedicated his life to doing what he teaches for many years.

Jamie Oliver did not just find some recipes from internet and compile them, he is a professional chef who has worked for many many years...

You mean you compiled some info from the WF and selling it as a course?

You're charging for info that one can get for free... I see.

You're no where close to any of the people you mentioned. So don't think you are.

you have only been on the WF for less than 2 years and have 5,000 that tell me you have nothing else to do like make money. So take a lesson from your elders.

Like I said in my post to the OP people lie and just compile crap and try to pass it off as the latest great thing.

A salesman for 20 years trying to sell mobile websites and can't sell them...

This tells you it is not easy and what people say in there sales page should be taken apart so they quit scamming noobs into buy crap products.

My product has gone on to sell thousands of copies and has thousands of testimonials from people who have used it and made money.

Send it over to me for my review if it does what you say it does.

Put your product where your mouth is.

Richard

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

Paying for reviews... ok... begging... ok... require a review for 10.00 off... anyone that had to give you a review because you gave them a discount is not a real review... Fake Reviews

Like I told the OP people tell half truths and full lies Proven by WillR and his fake reviews

you did not get real reviews if you gave someone a discount or mandatory made them give you a review...

How dare you think you are even close to doing what the ones you have mention you are not even close to any of them.

I never once compared myself to them so stop putting words in my mouth. You said that people who teach are people who can't do. I was proving your theory wrong and succeeded in doing so.

Originally Posted by RichardDean

you have only been on the WF for less than 2 years and have 5,000 that tell me you have nothing else to do like make money. So take a lesson from your elders.

Yes, spot on. How did you know? I'm making no money...

Originally Posted by RichardDean

A salesman for 20 years trying to sell mobile websites and can't sell them...

This tells you it is not easy and what people say in there sales page should be taken apart so they quit scamming noobs into buy crap products.

If you truly believe that then THAT is why you have not succeeded at anything you try. Since you love your sayings so much, here's one for you...

"A bad workman blames his tools..."

The fact that plenty of other people are out there right now selling mobile websites proves it is possible. If one person can not do it that says more about the person than the technique. People can only teach you so much, the rest is up to you.

Originally Posted by RichardDean

Send it over to me for my review if it does what you say it does.

Put your product where your mouth is.

Put my money where my mouth is? Doesn't even make sense but no thanks. Why on earth would I waste my time sending it to someone who blames their lack of success on everything else but themselves. Haha, no thanks. I don't value your opinion, only those of my customers.

Originally Posted by RichardDean

Paying for reviews... ok... begging... ok... require a review for 10.00 off... anyone that had to give you a review because you gave them a discount is not a real review... Fake Reviews

Like I told the OP people tell half truths and full lies Proven by WillR and his fake reviews

Begging? Haha. Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed today or knocked their head. If you had any common sense you would realize that giving someone a discount BEFORE they purchase means they only have to leave a review, whether the review is positive or negative is totally up to them since they already have the discount and have nothing to gain from leaving a positive review... and nothing to lose by leaving a negative review.

Everyone else on this forum seems to grasp that concept as it has been discussed numerous times. Just read over it a few times and I am sure the light bulb will go off eventually.

Good day to you sir. I have a business to run so I can't sit here chatting with you all day.

You sell mobile stuff tell me if you can .... Do you sell mobile stuff because you can't do it?

You heard the saying who can't do teach...

If you can't say then looks like your are just trying to promote your link in your sig... Stop making these type of post if you have no real value to ad... saying you don't get it then not telling me why is no value...

Others

in the real world you don't see... lets take the dry cleaner down the road from me... he does a great business you don't see him telling others how to to dry cleaning...

Or take the pizzeria they don't sell their recipe to everyone...

So why do people sell there how to something... because it really don't work but say it does.

If people are so successful why are the selling their secret? You don't see real business does this.

Next time you pick up that pizza ask them for their recipe

Richard

Your logic is flawed Richard. This is an internet marketing forum where ideas are circulated, and yes, sometimes packaged and sold as a training guide. Educating yourself on methods to succeed is always a good thing and always benefits the student who applies what he learns. So you will definitely get people who are here to teach, people who are here to sell, and people who are here to learn.

Do you honestly not think the same thing exists in the dry cleaning, pizza, or any other industry? Look closer and you will find franchise training, books, and seminars all over the place.

The bottom line is that there is knowledge available, and you can choose what you do with that knowledge that is available to you.

Your logic is flawed Richard. This is an internet marketing forum where ideas are circulated, and yes, sometimes packaged and sold as a training guide. Educating yourself on methods to succeed is always a good thing and always benefits the student who applies what he learns. So you will definitely get people who are here to teach, people who are here to sell, and people who are here to learn.

Do you honestly not think the same thing exists in the dry cleaning, pizza, or any other industry? Look closer and you will find franchise training, books, and seminars all over the place.

The bottom line is that there is knowledge available, and you can choose what you do with that knowledge that is available to you.

Yes... when franchising a business you get extensive training because they don't want you to fail, and they just don't sell to anyone try getting a McDonald's franchise with out qualifying... and you have to go to hamburger university and they won't just let you open a McDonald's on any street corner in any town. They want you to have success. and they go the extra mile they will go to your location and help train help in what ever it is to have success.

They don't just hire a person from free lance with the lowest bid to slap together some compile recipe... and sell it to anyone.

Slap some crap together, make some sales, some people fail some never do anything, some will ask for their money back some won't... and you move on to the next fad and start over. slap some crap together...so on

People like Big Dave Ostrander (pizza) he has dedicated his life to helping others in the pizza business... and he has been very successful with his own pizza shops... tried and tested for years before he started to teach...

He did not just research on the internet then slap a how to open a pizza business.

There is a big difference... in the training, experience, and doing what they teach.

Yes... when franchising a business you get extensive training because they don't want you to fail, and they just don't sell to anyone try getting a McDonald's franchise with out qualifying... and you have to go to hamburger university and they won't just let you open a McDonald's on any street corner in any town. They want you to have success. and they go the extra mile they will go to your location and help train help in what ever it is to have success.

They don't just hire a person from free lance with the lowest bid to slap together some compile recipe... and sell it to anyone.

Slap some crap together, make some sales, some people fail some never do anything, some will ask for their money back some won't... and you move on to the next fad and start over. slap some crap together...so on

People like Big Dave Ostrander (pizza) he has dedicated his life to helping others in the pizza business... and he has been very successful with his own pizza shops... tried and tested for years before he started to teach...

He did not just research on the internet then slap a how to open a pizza business.

There is a big difference... in the training, experience, and doing what they teach.

Richard

So what exactly is your problem or concern here, Richard?

Do you have a problem with people being able to sell a WSO here with very low barriers to entry? I sure hope not, because the hypocrisy of that, considering your own signature link, is just too obvious.

Do you think that selling mobile websites to local business owners is not a valued service for that business owner?

Do you have a problem with something else?

Because I'm just not seeing what the end game is here. I don't want to get into an arguing match with you or anyone else here, because I have better and more productive things to do, but I'll say that having a scarcity mentality will get you nowhere. If you are enticed enough to buy a WSO, no matter if it's your 2nd or 32nd WSO purchase, you obviously saw enough value in what you knew of the WSO to purchase it. What you do to apply it to your own business and life, and how you profit from it, intellectually and materially, is up to you.

Have you heard of eCover actions... You can thank me for inventing them.

Have you heard of Plugin Sales Generator common name thank you page ads... Me also

Many many more...

I set trends and set new ways of doing things... People compile my stuff and sell it.

no matter how you want to think or how many people started threads.. A real review is when someone buys then they contact you to tell you their thoughts. You should never have to ask for a real review, or give a discount to get one.

I have never once seen anyone post a review that was bad.

Put my money where my mouth is? Doesn't even make sense but no thanks. Why on earth would I waste my time sending it to someone who blames their lack of success on everything else but themselves. Haha, no thanks. I don't value your opinion, only those of my customers.

Again I'm sure you have or hired a designer that uses eCover actions to create a cover for you, again you can thank me. That is why I have lack of success LOL

YEP... what happens when you buy crap scripts and plugins... the only place I have been buying stuff is the WSO... my point again proven by a hack job.

People are in such a hurry to make a new script or plugin then they have holes in them because they don't fully test things.

This could not be the case here but you want to think it was the last thing you installed that WSO for cheap price plugin good buy.

Buy crap and crap happens it's not the first time won't be the last time.

Richard

Dick,

Sounds good, no worries. I was just reading your "about warrior gigs" page on warriorgigs.com: you mentioned after the first few para's "join warrior gigs to get the best products".

Question: at the bottom of that page you say: "WarriorGigs is for sale" - ok so if I join to get the "best products", and you sell it, will I still get them? I only want to deal with the best and you really look the goods.

For a comparison, go to chilis.com on your computer. Then go to chilis.com on your phone.

It makes sense if a website is difficult to read on a phone, you hit that back button and find one that is easy to read.

We are a fast paced society and even if research and studies show that mobile phones are on the rise, take a walk through a mall or a populated area. It doesn't take long to see how many people are using their phones.

Thank you all for the valuation information - the time you spent posting on this thread.

For a comparison, go to chilis.com on your computer. Then go to chilis.com on your phone.

It makes sense if a website is difficult to read on a phone, you hit that back button and find one that is easy to read.

We are a fast paced society and even if research and studies show that mobile phones are on the rise, take a walk through a mall or a populated area. It doesn't take long to see how many people are using their phones.

Thank you all for the valuation information - the time you spent posting on this thread.

I'm not sure if all phones are created equal... I use sprint I have a HTC EVO 4G using Miren Browser.

I just went to the site on the computer and on the phone

the phone auto went to a search page I typed in my zip code and non was found... There is one about 12 miles from me. So I typed in the state found nothing... not sure why it don't pull up the one that is not that far from me.

there is a link to view classic site i clicked that and it looks just as it does on my computer.

So I have no problem with the normal website viewed on the HTC EVO 4G.

Just from this test I encountered that the mobile site could not find the chilis that is 12 miles from me... could just be there webmaster needs to fix the search option.

If I was at home and wanted to check out chilis the website looks amazing on my computer.

I like it to look the same on my phone because I have the visual of what the site looks like in my mind... If I then go to a site that does not look the same as the computer or does not act the same it's frustrating.

I do believe the browsers and phones are getting better.

Samsung galaxy s2 by sprint, My friend has one and it is amazing browsing the internet is like doing it from the computer until the darn mobile sites pop up...

Sure have a mobile site, but please leave me the option to go to the classic site and I will always favor the classic over the mobile.

"Mobile, Schmobile!" People do NOT care about..."internet"...Face Book, "Twitter-Schmitter"...."websites"..."mobile sites"...THEY DO CARE ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE IN TO THEIR PLACE OF BUSINESS TO.....BUY....THEIR GOODS OR SERVICES!"

If little ol' YOU can SHOW businesses, professionals, medicos....how they can GET MORE CUSTOMERS, CLIENTS, PATIENTS....you can "Name Your Own Price"!

Example: People are checking into local Motels/Hotels in YOUR town... every day! Here's what these Travelers/Tourists HAVE....

1) A "Mobile Device" (If you doubt this...go ask the Front Desk Mgr of ANY Motel/Hotel in YOUR town. Ask 3 or 4 or more...and they will ALL tell you...."100% of their Guests, checking in, HAVE a Mobile Device!)

2) A "HUNGER" for Something To Eat! (Most travelers/tourists today do NOT bring food in their vehicles)

3) "CASH"....to either Order a Pizza delivered to their room or to spend at a Sit-Down restaurant.

"Mobile, Schmobile!" People do NOT care about..."internet"...Face Book, "Twitter-Schmitter"...."websites"..."mobile sites"...THEY DO CARE ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE IN TO THEIR PLACE OF BUSINESS TO.....BUY....THEIR GOODS OR SERVICES!"

If little ol' YOU can SHOW businesses, professionals, medicos....how they can GET MORE CUSTOMERS, CLIENTS, PATIENTS....you can "Name Your Own Price"!

Example: People are checking into local Motels/Hotels in YOUR town... every day! Here's what these Travelers/Tourists HAVE....

1) A "Mobile Device" (If you doubt this...go ask the Front Desk Mgr of ANY Motel/Hotel in YOUR town. Ask 3 or 4 or more...and they will ALL tell you...."100% of their Guests, checking in, HAVE a Mobile Device!)

2) A "HUNGER" for Something To Eat! (Most travelers/tourists today do NOT bring food in their vehicles)

3) "CASH"....to either Order a Pizza delivered to their room or to spend at a Sit-Down restaurant.

It's funny, this post kind of flew under the radar - two "thanks" and I believe one other quote.

This is one of the most impactful posts I have ever read in the mobile marketing forum. Why? Because it's a blueprint of actions.

How do I know? Because when I read it I took action that very afternoon. I rang the local hotel in my town, spoke with the GM and agreed an arrangement to promote my mobile town directory to their guests, in return for a free mobile site and regular updates.

I did the exact same thing in a college campus which holds over 1000 beds and caters for tourists in the off season when college is closed. Same deal. Promoting the mobile site in all the rooms. A business card promoting the site is slipped into the wallet of their keycard upon checkin - for both places.

This bit was key for me:
"If little ol' YOU can SHOW businesses, professionals, medicos....how they can GET MORE CUSTOMERS, CLIENTS, PATIENTS....you can "Name Your Own Price"!"

If you've got a QR code scanner handy try this out

I was in there on Tuesday, ordered a breakfast and a smoothie, asked for the Manager and demo'd the site for him. He LOVED the facebook like part along with the coupon appearing after it was liked.

He agreed to promote my mobile directory in his BUSY popular cafe. Exactly what I wanted.

I did the same to two other businesses that day.

Once I had the two main businesses in that town that I wanted on it, selling this was easy. I already have deals (in principle) that when the site goes live they get a top slot in return for a monthly recurring fee.

One tip - if you go networking ask your group of networkers if they know anyone in the hotel industry/owner of a cafe. It can be a great head start for you. I knew the campus accommodation manager but not the other two, but when I had the agreement to promote it the leverage was on my side.